David, 10, thinks that: "We dream so people can see what they want or what is to become of their future."

Some believe that dreams aren't connected to our real emotions or thoughts. Other dream specialists think that what we see in our dreams has very specific meaning for our life. Dreams, they feel, are like a window into our deepest desires and biggest fears, and interpreting our dreams (trying to find the hidden meaning) can help us figure out what's really going on in our brains and our lives. In this theory, a dream is a direct message from your mind, telling you about problems that need to be solved, fears that need to be put to rest, or goals that need to be followed.

Many dream researchers have views that are somewhere in between these two opinions. Dreams, they say, are not always filled with meaning. Sometimes dreams are just your mind playing with thoughts and images from your life, or things you may have read or seen on TV. But other times, dreams are a special opportunity for you to make sense of your life, especially things that you want to achieve, or things that cause you trouble or stress.

Many dream experts agree that recurring dreams, dreams that you keep having over and over, probably have some sort of special meaning. Even if you consider most of your dreams to be strange stories that don't relate to your normal life, it could be that a dream that keeps reappearing is trying to tell you something. You might want to try remembering the details of a recurring dream and making sense of what it might be telling you.

Up next: Cool Dreams