Here's a list of some universal dreams. Count how many of these you've had:

• Chase or Attack: A criminal, monster or hungry animal is chasing you.

• Losing Something: You drop or misplace a valuable or important object and can't get it back.

• Finding Something: You find something unexpected, like a room in your house you never knew was there before.

• Celebrities: You meet someone famous.

• Failing: You can't remember any answers to an important test, or you suddenly can't play your instrument during a big recital.

• Flying: You soar happily through the clouds looking down on the world.

• Falling: You fall off a cliff or into a huge hole.

• Naked: You show up at school or in another public place without clothes.

• Lost: You're somewhere you've never been before and can't find your way back home.

• Late: You miss the bus or the school bell or you're late to some other important event.

• Stuck: You're in danger, but you can't move your legs to run, or you can't find the voice to yell.

So why do so many people have dreams that contain these basic ideas or themes? If you look at the list, you might notice that these aren't things that happen everyday, but they aren't too way-out either. In fact, these dreams are based around desires, fears, or anxieties that almost all people share. Nobody wants to fail, or be embarrassed, or get lost, or lose something important. If we're stressed out about things like this, they might pop up in our dreams, even if the details are different from what we've been thinking about while awake.

On the other hand, it's very common to have fantasies about being able to fly, or finding something valuable, or about meeting someone famous, so these sorts of things can also appear in dreams.

Every person in the world is unique, but we share a lot of the same fears and fantasies. Because our minds think about these things a lot, they tend to pop up in our dreams.

So, is there such a thing about Dream Symbols? Read on!