Example: ‘I have this recurring nightmare. I see my mother standing by my bedroom door, blocking it as if I am being trapped and stopped from getting out. I often call to her “Let me out Mum” but she just stands there staring with no expression on her face at all. I end up getting out of bed and switching my bedroom light on and then she disappears. Sometimes I will see her standing by my wardrobe. It seems as if she is always standing by a door and trying to trap me’ (Natalie S). Natalie is 14 and the obstacle she faces in choosing her own clothes—the wardrobe—and making her own decisions—her mother—is her own dependence upon her mother, and the need to develop a new relationship with her.
Example: ‘As I was driving along I turned my car over. I wasn’t hurt but could not now get to my destination. I didn’t feel at all upset about the car being damaged’ (Tim K).
The example shows a subtle and self-made obstacle, the damaged car. In fact Tim admitted ruining his own work opportunities —the car—because he was frightened of failure.
The obstacle, obstruction, barner or interference can be a person, wall, river, animal—or it might be an internal thing like paralysis or a lump in the throat. Refer to the entry on the appropriate subject to define what it is acting as an obstacle.
See also: first example in failure; fence; wall. [1]
2- Indecision and self-doubt can often translate themselves in dreams into actual physical objects. At times, our own inhibitions and anxieties cannot be faced unless we give them tangible forms.
3- Difficulty, indccision and doubt are the three main blocks one will come up against in this particular spiritual ‘obstacle course’.
The dreamer will have to scale each one if he is to finally achieve his spiritual goal. [2]
Often we imagine that obstacles are bigger than they really are. In this sense, it is likely that the impediments that appear in dreams are larger than those in real life. [3]
If you dream of an obstacle course, then you are testing your strength, smarts, and resourcefulness. Keep in mind that a person doesn’t realize their inner hero or shero unless they’ve been challenged.
clamoring over an: wil be chal enged by an exciting opportunity.
course: cannot cope with days, if your nights are so confused.
meeting an: face to face does not preclude successful negotiation.
placing an, in another’s way: wil be confronted with your infringement of privacy.
skirting around an: beliefs have been duly considered; act on them. [9]