Recently one of my good friends sent me this dream.

Last night I dreamed that you and I were running in this big race in some kind of beautiful national park with a whole lot of people. We were going along and I got forced into running through this kind of landslide area and I somehow got lost and found myself running on a super highway where a car went out of control and was skidding sideways right for me. It stopped just short of hitting me. I walked past the car wreckage and went to cross a big road but it had an arroyo pouring down it, so I had to go another way. I felt so far off track and lost and then I saw you. You were all sweaty and exhausted and really trying to get your breath. And then we were like,, “okay, let’s go”. We were both still in the race!!

What I love about this dream so much is that it can be applied to actual racing like actual running, and it can be applied to the big race you are in in life. This dream explains the process we all must go through on our true life path. In the first part of the dream, like the first part of the big race of life, you find yourself in beauty and awe. This is where you are totally enamored with what you are doing and feeling wonderment with each step.

Then, without notice, you are thrown into extremely difficult life tests and challenges. These tests develop all kinds of inner qualities like determination, resilience, problem-solving, trust, and faith. At times you want to give up because, like in the dream, you feel so far off track and alone. While the dream is a matter of minutes in sleep time, in real life what the dreamer is experiencing is years of being in challenges. The amazing thing about her is that she never gives up. She is slowed, but still remains faithful to her path.

When she sees me, who is equally exhausted, it is like the synergistic energy of two people being in the big race together, energizes us. We have been through the worst of it, but now we are back in the race with a lot more acquired abilities. It makes being successful so much easier.

No one ever really asks for these challenges that come to us. We would all prefer an easier road, at least one that didn’t have so many emotionally wrenching times, but when you are on the other end of them, together with a fellow traveler who has also experienced great challenges, the road ahead and the race is extremely bright.