Lemondrop

In his mega-bestselling book, "Think & Grow Rich" Napoleon Hill interviewed and researched over 500 of the most successful people in history to determine what common attributes they shared that allowed them to create such prosperity and purpose-driven lives. Can you guess one attribute they all had in common?

They all had highly attuned intuition (aka, the ability to tap into their gut feelings and act on their inner-guidance).

Can you guess one of the best-kept secrets to building your intuition muscles?

Dream Recall

In these economic times we can no longer rely on external structures: the stock market, and banking systems are crumbling, the automotive industry and housing markets are falling apart.

When all else fails, turn within.

People claim they can't afford the time to pay attention to their dreams...I say you can't afford not to. What if the goldmine you have been praying for is not in your backyard, but under your pillow?

Stephenie Meyer was a stay-at-home mom who dabbled with writing from time to time -- and was certainly not into vampire stories at all. However, one night, she had a dream about a benevolent and hot (as in handsome) vampire who was captivated by the scent of an average girl. This dream was so vivid that Stephenie began to write what became the mega-hit, Twilight. This led to the next in the Twilight series...then the next...then the next...and the rest is her-story. Can you imagine what would have happened if she had shrugged it off as "just a dream?"

Is this phenomenon relegated to just a select few people in this world with especially good karma?

Absolutely not!

I believe it is special when a person has this kind of dream -- but not unusual. It happens from time to time to everyone...even for those whose karma is questionable. After the jump, a few great examples of dreams from ordinary folks (and a few superstars) that made them wealthy, healthy, or famous...


Thomas Jefferson's writing the Declaration of Independence:
Some historians, including author Robert Moss, attribute the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the philosophy contained within to the descriptive nighttime dreams of both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Dr. Benjamin Rush, the physician attending both ex-presidents, during the eleven years of their estranged friendship (due to irreconcilable political differences) acted as a dream bridge between the two. By the way, as you can imagine, this was quite unusual (and even scandalous) for men of power at this time to openly discuss such metaphysical ideologies.
History's biggest oil discovery: In September 1937 the Kuwait Oil Company was unsuccessfully drilling in Bahra...until one night, Colonel Harold Dickson dreamed of a beautiful woman buried in an underground tomb. In his dream the Colonel rescued the damsel in distress, fed her and gave her warm clothes. To repay his kindness she led her hero to an ancient sidr tree, growing alone in the desert. Upon awakening, Colonel Dickson discovered the exact location of this particular tree and shared it with the Sheikh of Kuwait who redirected drilling operations to the area near the lonely tree. Within a few months the Kuwait Oil Company hit on what became the one of the richest oil discoveries in history.
The Invention of the Sewing Machine: In his waking life, inventor, Elias Howe, was struggling to figure out how to make a needle cut through a piece of cloth on the sewing machine he was creating. He decided to "sleep on it" and his dream came to the rescue, "I was taken prisoner by a group of natives. They were dancing around with spears. As they were moving around me, I noticed their spears all had holes near their tips." Even though he was frightened when he awoke, he realized that by placing a hole at the tip of the needle, the thread could be caught after pushing through the cloth. Eurika! He changed his design to incorporate the dream idea and found it worked! This is one dream for which my grandmother is particularly grateful (and for those of us who don't live in a nudist colony).
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein": During the rainy summer of 1816, at the ripe old age of 18, Mary Shelley dreamed of "...a pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. I saw the hideous phantasm of a man stretched out, and then, on the working of some powerful engine, show signs of life, and stir with an uneasy, half vital motion. Frightful must it be; for SUPREMELY frightful would be the effect of any human endeavor to mock the stupendous mechanism of the Creator of the world." With the urgings of Lord Byron, Mary Shelley wrote her Frankenstein nightmare down and expanded it into what is now considered a landmark work of Science Fiction, Romantic and Gothic literature.
Otto Loewi's Nobel Prize: Elias Howe's invention of the sewing machine: Dr. Otto Loewi's dream took place in a laboratory. There were two frog hearts placed apart from one another, the first with its nerves, the second without. In his dream he had the hunch it was not the nerves that influenced the heart directly...but the chemical substance being transmitted between the nerves. Upon awakening Dr. Loewi conducted an experiment proving the theory of chemical transmission (later identified as acetylcholine) of the nerve impulse. In 1936, Dr Loewi was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery.
Jack Nicklaus's golf swing: Golf legend, Jack Nicklaus, attributes his success in part to a dream he had in which he was gripping a golf club differently than he normally did. In real life he'd been having trouble collapsing his right arm and taking the club head away from the ball. However, in his dream, with this new grip, he was swinging perfectly. When he practiced his "dream grip" in real life it worked. "I feel kind of foolish admitting it," said Nicklaus, "but it really happened in a dream."
Paul McCartney's "Yesterday": The song "Yesterday" serenaded its way into Sir Paul McCartney's dream. McCartney was snoozing in his parent's home in London during the 1965 filming of the Beatle's Help! "I woke up with a lovely tune in my head. There was an upright piano next to me. I got out of bed, sat at the piano, found G, found F sharp minor 7th -- and that leads you through then to B to E minor, and finally back to E. It all leads forward logically. I thought, 'No, I've never written anything like this before.' But I had the tune, which was the most magic thing!" Exclaimed McCartney. According to the Guinness Book of Records, "Yesterday" (1965) has the most cover versions of any song ever written and, according to Broadcast Music Inc (BMI), was performed over seven million times in the 20th century.
James Cameron's "Avatar": One morning, in 1995, award winning film director James Cameron awoke breathless from an epic dream whereby he had visited a land called, "Pandora". In this rainforest-like dreamscape the people were an enlightened hybrid of aliens and humans, speaking a language that was foreign, yet understandable to him. Luckily for James Cameron (and Avatar fans worldwide) he respected his dream world and took copious notes. Ten years and several technological quantum leaps later, Cameron's dusty dream notes served as a travelogue for the entire production...a world that Cameron had already visited. "Avatar", released during the '09 Holiday season, with a $250 million dollar budget (the biggest movie budget in movie making history), has grossed over 1.686 billion dollars, and counting.

Worm Interupted: My husband dreamed about a worm being pulled out of his forehead. A few days later he went to the dermatologist who immediately was able to extract a rare "worm like" form of skin cancer-just in the nick of time.

If you are still not sold on the fact that your dreams can catapult your life to riches, stardom, and/or your greatest contribution to humanity (or at least a bit of guidance as to what outfit to wear on your date tomorrow night)...then consider this to be your wake up call. Perhaps tonight will be the night when you stop taking your dreams lying down!

Perhaps the dream you have tonight will be your breakthrough to solve your problems, catapult you to stardom or lead you to your very own gold mine.


Kelly Sullivan Walden, is a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and author.She is the creator/founder of The Dream Project, a nonprofit organization that bridges the gap between the United Nations and inner-city school kids.

Contact Kelly if you have a strange dream that you'd like her to consider interpreting for her Lemondrop Dream Column. If you are interested in learning how to interpret your dreams on your own (very empowering), then purchase your copy of "I Had the Strangest Dream." OK, if you'd rather have the Dream Doctor interpret your dream for you, you can always schedule your own private Dream Coaching session.