Nov 20 2008
Dream on - Back to the Navy!
Dream on - Back to the Navy!
Last night I again dreamt that I was being recalled into active duty with the U.S. Navy. Now, I’ve been retired from the Navy since February 1995. Isn’t it about time that my mind quits thinking that I still have to go back some day?
Back in 1969, I got out of the Navy after my first four year enlistment in order to attend college. Five years later, I was consistently having dreams that I was still on active duty. Many times I would awaken with a start! I’m late for muster! Where am I?
Admittedly, some of these mornings I was pretty well hung over, but not always. The dreams finally got to me and I just gave in: I returned to active duty and remained on active duty for the next 20 years.
Last night, in my dream (I won’t call it a nightmare, exactly), I was busy trying on my old uniforms to see if they still fit and filling in scads of paperwork. I was all concerned that my security clearance information was 14 years out of date and I would have to re-create fifty years of personal history (DD 398 Statement of Personal History, if they still use the same old form). Look, see? I still remember that stuff! I need to move on!
I guess dreams are just tricks that our brains play on us from time to time. Perhaps you, too, have a career deeply imprinted on your brain that will stay with you until you die. For myself, I wish these dreams would just go away.
There are better things to dream about; much better fantasies than being back in the Navy.
