Written on Mon, 10 Aug 2015 01:31:59 +0000

Sibling Rivalry

Dreams are not of course literal or logical - they use symbols to represent powerful emotions.

I had a dream last night that I was in a two-man race race which, contrary to my expectation, turned out to be a marathon cross country race. 

I remember my own expectation and that of others was  that I  would not even finish the race. However,  I kept surprising myself and the other taller runner on my right shoulder by havin g the stamina not just to keep going but to actually  keep inching ahead of him. He kept expressing his surprise by whispering his surprise that I was still in the race.

At the end we came to a hill which I recognized as being similar to  the old moat near my home in Ireland and I continued to surprise my self as my stamina held out and  I climbed the moat to the finish and won the race.

But the finish was an anti-climax-as there was no-one there to applaud my win and  my feat remained unacknowledged. Instead of elation I felt disappointment.

When I awoke I  was thinking of Anne Frank's comment..

'People send flowers to you in your grave  when you are dead rather than when you are alive because regret is a stronger emotion than sympathy'

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see that the marathon  race is a metaphor for life. 

It has left me wondering if the 'finish' for me  is imminent? I sometimes catch myself  wishing it to be so.

Maybe the dream is telling me to expect heaven to be a disappointment!

I think my brother was the taller runner on my right-shoulder?

A suitable metaphor for an estranged elder brother