Over the years, I’ve seen people proclaim that dreams can predict the future; windows into what can and often will happen. Rubbish!

I’ve have always been under the full belief that dreams are just our thoughts, however sub-conscious, and we control what we dream to the extent that what we dream often is impacted by what we have experienced in a conscious state, not a vision of what we may experience in the future, during a sub-conscious state.

This morning I had a dream so profound, that all my beliefs about dreams being nothing more than non-linear thoughts has proved my suspicions fully. In short, dreams are what you make of them, even if you don’t have total control over the plot or outcome of the dream. But deep down, your brain has already thought about, or contemplated the thoughts you are dreaming.

This past Monday, I was at my grandparents. Both my grandparents, as well as my mother and uncle were present. Now, during this weekly ritual, many things are discussed– from sports, politics, finance, news, you name it, it’s covered. A couple strange things were covered, that I never heard before.

During the course of the two-hour visit in their kitchen, my mother spoke about how she awoke one night, and her airway was blocked. It took her about 50 seconds to take a breath after waking up. Aside from the fact I told her she should have called 9-1-1 after about 20 seconds, she has had a history of airway problems, either due to allergies or asthma, in which she used to use an inhaler. This was the first suggestion my brain received.

Then my uncle was talking about how his mother-in-law, who is elderly and on oxygen, and generally not in too good of health, likes to chew on frozen grapes. The then proceeded to take out a bag of frozen grapes, which my grandmother thought was kind of crazy, and my mother thought they had lost (the grapes) their sweetness. After being offered one, and declining (where is Lady when you need her), I filed that thought into my brain. That was the second suggestion.

That same day, I went into my father’s room, and saw his eye glasses on my gumball machine. About ten minutes later, he asked where his glasses were, and I pointed out where they were. That was all. This was the third suggestion.

Last night I was watching DVDs of the HBO series OZ. I’ve been watching the season series discs for about 10 days now, and I’m up to season 4. I fell asleep with the DVD playing. This was my fourth suggestion.

After I fell asleep to Oz, I woke up with a strange dream that I had the fortune to type out quickly on my Mac. Here is how the dream went.

I was in a kitchen, with one of the main characters from Oz. I stole his glasses and threw them in the trash. I was also eating frozen blueberries. He pulled me from behind, and the blueberries went flying across the floor. I started to feel myself choking on the blueberry, and I was trying to cough to dislodge the blueberry and catch my breath. This went on for about 10 seconds.

I then woke up, and my mouth was pretty dry, and as I was trying to swallow, I could feel the dryness of my throat. The dream was so vivid, I had to time run upstairs and write it down.

During this “kitchen” sequence, everything in that dream I did experience in the last few days. Some things were changed, probably to protect the innocent, like blueberries in place of grapes.

Now, I like to hold and feel truth. I am skeptical of things I can’t see, touch, or feel. I like to verify things before I proclaim them as fact, and don’t waste time with things out of my control, or things I deem not important enough to waste my time.

I have never given dreams more credit than they deserve, unlike some people, and I have never thought they can help up see the future, or change the outcome of our lives. Simply put, you dream what you have thought, or what your senses have come in contact with. That’s it.

Unlike when we are conscious, our brains don’t have to think in a linear fashion when we are subconscious. We can think of an entire episode simultaneously, putting various thoughts together to form one wacky or detailed “vision.”

I have come to the conclusion that dreams are in our control, and really are no more special than a day dream. We make both of them, and at least during our conscious dreams, we control them.