What do dreams of climbing mean?

Have you ever dreamed of climbing a set of stairs? Have you found yourself on top of a mountain after a long climb in your dreams?Have you had night visions of struggling up some steep steps trying to get somewhere?

What are the truths in climbing dreams? It’s important to understand that dreams about climbing have more to do with the activity itself than the specific locale or area where you are climbing.

It’s important to keep this in mind because it’s too easy to focus on the extra details surrounding your climb. If most of your dreams are about your feelings or the experiences you’re going through when you’re climbing, you should focus on that activity.

Sure, there might be trees, mountains, hales, buildings, signs, and others that would figure in your climbing dream, but you would miss out on a key motif that dictates most, if not all, of the meaning of your dream if you don’t focus on the main activity of climbing dreams.

What makes this tricky is that you can have the same climbing dream in different settings. Your dreams of climbing can involve buildings one night, then mountain ranges or small hills the other. In some cases, you’re not even aware that you are climbing.

Maybe you were so preoccupied with one person in your dream because you talked to that person while climbing.

Main Theme of Climbing Dreams: Aspiring Thoughts

When you climb, you go from one level to another. And since you’re climbing, this direction only goes one way: it goes up. Seeing yourself climbing means you are aspiring for something. You realize that you’re starting at a certain place with a certain reality.

Maybe you don’t have enough money, or you’re not getting enough hours at your job, or you feel that you’re not getting paid enough, or you don’t have a job or any means of supporting yourself. Similarly, you may feel that you’re in a family situation or relationship where you’re not getting the kind of validation and emotional support you would like.

Whatever the case may be, you’re starting from one level with its limitations and promises, and you’re taking action to go to a higher level.

What Does Climbing To A Higher Level Mean?

Whether you see yourself climbing a hill or a ladder in your dream, they both pretty much lead to the same place. You are viewing success in terms of where you are going. You can only do this when you compare it with where you began.

This is where it gets tricky because success differs from person to person when it comes to their waking life. Just as their analogies for it vary in their dream life, you can bet that, in their waking life, they would have different measurements for what it means to have a “good life” or to have “achieved something.”

But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how you define success. What matters is there is a big enough difference between where you started and where you end up.

So even if your subconscious speaks in terms of climbing a hill or a ladder or taking an elevator or going upstairs, your main focus should be on what you remember your starting point was and your last vision of recollection of where you ended up.

This is crucial because your subconscious is telling you how you work towards your desires. All of us have unfulfilled and unrealized desires. The reason they remain in the realm of dreams instead of turning into something that we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell involves our ability to convert them.

Climbing The Mountain of Desire

Climbing a mountain might seem straightforward. You put one foot in front of the other, and with enough patience and focus, eventually, you get to the summit. Seems pretty clear, right? But what people usually overlook is that the number one reason so few of us achieve our highest goals in life is because we are unprepared.

I’m not talking about failing to pack enough food and drinks for the journey or about gear. I’m talking about something more important. We often find ourselves completely unprepared when our minds start playing tricks on us.

When doing any kind of dream interpretation regarding the motif of climbing, we always have to consider that the only person that can hold us back and drag us down in the pursuit of our hopes and dreams is ultimately us.

Sure, you may have had trauma in the past. You may have tried to climb a ladder of success in the past and seen other people pull you down that ladder. You may have even seen your dreams go up in smoke because it seems that you have rubbed somebody somewhere at some time the wrong way.

All of these can be true. You’re trying to reach the top, and for whatever reason, somebody got in the way. But if you truly want to climb that steep hill of success no matter the opposition, chances are you would have made it in your life.

Whatever you desired in your life, you would have attained it because you desired it so much. You failed and are now frustrated, and feeling stuck because you did not give yourself permission to try hard enough.

Sure, there will be people in our lives that will try to make our climb and aspirations a hassle. They could even try to make it an ordeal. That is granted. But they don’t have to win; they don’t have to live rent-free in your head. They don’t have to traumatize you every time you think about the words they said or the things they did to you.

Your dreams are only as real as the focus you put on them.

The Proper Dream Interpretation of Climbing Dreams

When you see yourself climbing a steep hill or going up a mountain, and it seems like it’s a scene from real life, understand that you have to overcome yourself for you to reach the top. Success, no matter how you define it, doesn’t depend on you not getting knocked down.

It’s important to keep that in mind because we are so focused on a smooth ladder up to the pinnacles of success that our dream interpretation quickly centers on what other people are doing to us.

Instead, you have to overcome your response to what other people may be doing now or may have done to you in the past for you to reach the top. Whether you’re scaling stairs or trying to come over a wall, at the end of the day, there is a wall around your heart that you put up.

You could have become anybody you wanted. You could have become the greatest success you know. You could do so many things if you truly desired them enough because you would put in the hard work and the focus to overcome any obstacle and get over any wall.

People who have reached the top managed to do so not because they are better than you in their waking life. In many cases, they may be dumber than you. In most cases, they are probably less attractive than you.

But why are they successful? Why did they achieve their highest dreams? Why were they able to scale challenges that posed tremendous difficulties? Why were they able to come up against obstacles and emerge victoriously?

The sad reality of any kind of dream interpretation about climbing that we cannot escape is that this symbolizes our struggle against ourselves. Your foot seems so much heavier with each next step upward because you are focused on the wrong things.

If you spend less time thinking about the challenges ahead and instead focus on what you’ve learned and how badly you need to accomplish the tasks ahead of you, your goals will start to fall like dominoes.

You have to understand that no matter how challenging or seemingly impossible your conscious dreams may be, they can always be broken down. This is all spiritual because your spiritual aspect gives you a story to make sense of the world.

From people’s comments to the direction your life is going to how people interpret your actions and other conscious and unconscious signals, you’re constantly engaged in interpretation. But here’s the problem, many people let their minds operate on autopilot.

They don’t exercise firm spiritual control over the stories that they allow themselves to believe in. Everybody has a story, and in many cases, it’s a narrative that works against them. The worst part is it is all a choice.

Sure, you may have suffered trauma. You may have felt a tremendous amount of disappointment or even oppression, harm, and abuse. But those are facts from the past. You cannot jump into a time machine and bring everything back or make your life go in another direction by changing the facts.

You cannot change the facts because they happened; they are history. But what you can change is how your interpretations of your personal story affect your waking life. This is where intentional living comes in.

You have to take spiritual control of what you focus on. What is your highest ambition? Who do you think you are? Who do you think you should be? What is your definition of a bright future? How should you search for this future? You have to understand that you write your own life and nobody else.

Sure, the beginnings of your life or the raw ingredients of your existence may be beyond your control. But every second you’re alive, and you can make a decision is an opportunity for you to take a step towards where you want to go.

So when you see yourself in a dream climbing a hill or going upstairs, your subconscious is telling you that you need to focus on the direction of your life.

In many cases, if your waking life seems depressing compared to your dream life of aspirations, climbing, achievement, and victory, your subconscious is telling you another message. It’s telling you that you are capable of something more, but you choose to be stuck; you choose to remain behind, and you choose to let certain things drag you down and hold you back.

Dream Interpretation of Climbing A Hill and Falling

If you see yourself climbing a hill in your dream and start to fall and struggle up that hill, your subconscious mind tells you that you are unprepared for that journey. Now keep in mind that this is very different from telling you to stop.

Nobody is saying that what you’re doing is a mistake. Instead, your subconscious is telling you, in so many ways, that you are unprepared. This can involve your attitude. Maybe you believe that things should be smooth sailing when you dream about starting your own company, getting your dream job, or having an ideal relationship.

Maybe you’re the kind of person who believes that it has to be perfect every time you try something from day one. I know this sounds ridiculous to many people, but it’s also true on a subconscious level. There’s a part of us that gets let down when we fail the first time we try.

Well, let me clue you in on a secret. The first time you try anything, be it relationships, career, business, or working out in a gym or anything else, your first few times will suck. And depending on the skill level required by an activity, don’t expect things to improve any time soon dramatically.

What’s important is you put one foot in front of the other. Just like in climbing a hill, going upstairs, or going up a mountain, every step forward and upward is a victory. You can’t allow yourself to be impatient, turn around, and look at the stairs you’ve climbed and say that you haven’t come far enough.

If you say this, you will start believing that it’s not worth it and that you will never get to where you want to go. You will lose sight of all the progress you’ve made when you focus on what you think is missing.

I know this will sound a little bit crazy given the direction you think your life is going. But the truth is, as long as you’re pushing in a forward direction and you’re not where you started, you are making progress.

Pretty soon, that future that you’ve dreamed for yourself will become a reality. You only need to focus on making consistent efforts. This means that you cannot define yourself based on the times that you struggled uphill. You cannot base your identity on falling or your fears.

This sounds weird, but many people would love to be in your place because they can’t even manage to take the first steps. And here you are climbing a mountain or going up a ladder. They are so paralyzed by their fear and traumas that they have dismissed the reality that you’re living.

They have said to themselves that you’re going somewhere in life or that you’re taking up your life challenge the way they cannot. I know that it’s very trying as you put one foot in front of the other, and nothing seems to change in your life. I know how frustrating it can be to spend days, weeks, months, or even years on a project and have nothing to show for it.

But as long as you’re working in a forward direction and learning something new, you can scale up. And before you know it, you start realizing that you do have something to show for it. It turns out that your journey has changed you.
Focus on what the stairs, walls, mountains, and hills in your dreams truly represent. They don’t represent other people. They are not pointing in the direction of traps laid out for you. Instead, they represent a measurement of your willingness to change.

Just how badly do you want your dreams to become a reality? Just how deeply do you desire your goals? How valuable is your ambition to you? Nobody can answer these questions except you. The fact that you are trying to scale a wall with a rope indicates that you’re making progress.

Even though it seems that things are not changing that much at the ground level, your subconscious is picking up signals that indicate a change in direction or a change in emphasis, or a change in your level of effort.

Whatever the case may be, achieving your goals is important enough for you spiritually that your dreams are communicating these truths to you. Trust yourself enough to search the different symbologies of your dreams so you can get a clear idea of the different obstacles you’re up against.

Whether you are using a rope or going up a hill or a mountain, or trying to climb stairs, your dreams of climbing are speaking to you again and again. It is paying attention.

Line up your waking consciousness with your subconscious, and you would be surprised as to just how powerful your unconscious mind is in turning your dreams, hopes, and wishes into reality.

Dream Example #1

I was standing with a man I don’t know on the top floor of a skyscraper, looking down at the commotion and confusion.

Cars and buses stopped moving, the engines filled with water and drowning. People ran and tried to get into the building where I was, so they could climb higher and get away from the flood. Children drowned, and women screamed and cried, calling on their god in different languages.

I thought the Sea had left its place. The Waters had come to take back its city.

Perhaps, it’s the apocalypse. But it’s not raining fire. And the Lord had not appeared in the sky with His angels on shiny-flying horses to take his chosen ones. I doubt there are God’s chosen ones in Lagos.

I was not afraid. I wasn’t moved by the shouts and cries of people below me. It felt like I was watching a movie.

The man beside me, a tall Asian man, stared like he was watching a boring football game. He wore a simple T-shirt and jeans. His face, without expression. I thought he was too tall for an Asian.

He heard my thought. Because he turned to face me, his face completely blank, he extended his hand for a handshake.

I took it.

He yanked my hand and threw me off the high building.

I didn’t fall. Or at least, I didn’t see myself falling. I saw myself down below but on dry ground. People were running towards me. Faces full of fear and confusion.

The water was coming too, a mighty wave chasing everyone, to swallow us into itself. I grew scared then, and the water came closer, swallowing up some people as it approached.

I turned to run back into the building, but the more I ran, the farther it got. I was close to the building but very far from it.

At some point, I got into the building. I was panting, out of breath when I got inside. Some people made it inside with me. The Sea had almost reached the door as we scrambled for the elevator, to go up before the water burst in.

No elevator in the lobby. It looked like the Sea had been here and rearranged the furniture. Stairs appeared out of nowhere.

We rushed for it and headed up. Everyone ran up the stairs without any problem. But for me, the stairs became a ladder. Every climb was a mighty struggle. I worked hard with my hands and feet, trying to reach the first floor at least before the Sea caught up with me.

I felt weak, but I kept climbing. I didn’t make it to the first floor before the water shattered the door and flooded inside.

I woke up.

I shouldn’t have watched 2012 so late in the night, right before bed, I thought.

Dream Example #2

This story might be boring to some people and interesting to others. As for me, it is both boring and interesting.

I had this dream around 2 years ago. I dreamed that I was climbing and I was never able to come down. That is somehow pissing me off because I cannot be climbing forever and not come down.

This is how the dream went: I and my friends went bird hunting. It is an activity we used to do when we were still teenagers.

We had our catapults and small pebbles, so we went in the forest. We kept on going deep in the forest and as we chased the birds, they took us even deeper.

All my friends managed to kill some birds so it was only me without a bird.

When they had enough they said we should go back home, but I refused to go back without a bird. So, I told them to leave me behind, which is what they did. I was now alone in the forest chasing after birds.

I kept going far and deeper into the forest and finally got to a water pond. There were lots of birds and they did not away as I came closer. I took my catapult and did a slingshot toward the birds.

I injured one and that is when the rest flew away. I approached the bird and in an attempt to catch it, I flew onto a tree. With one of its wings injured, I knew it was going nowhere.

I went in the shade of a tree and started shooting at it, but I kept missing.

Seeing that the bird was unable to fly, I decided to climb on the tree and catch it with my hands.

That weird dream abused me that day. as I started climbing, it seemed like the tree was growing further and faster even. I kept on going further but could not reach the bird.

When I looked down I realized I was very far from the ground. How did it happen? I have no idea.

When I was about to give up, the bird came closer to me. I was then encouraged to try and reach to it. I tried again but I realized I still could not reach it.

I was starting to get frustrated but every time I wanted to give up the bird came even more closer. It kept going on like that until I gave up and wanted to climb down.

I realized I had gone up and that was the only tree visible. Looking down, all I could see was dust and not the ground.

I decided it was enough with the bird so I am coming down. I tried to climb down but I was not reaching the ground and I kept getting tired.

So I sit on the branch to rest, and every time I rested I found myself at the top of a tree.

I would try to climb down again and the whole process star at the top of the tree when I rest. I could no longer see the bird and where it disappeared to but all I cared about was to get down and go home.

The bad thing about this dream is that I woke up without coming down from that tree. I do not know what happened thereafter. I only saw myself waking up the next morning. I hate that dream.

Dream Example #3

In the dream, I was wearing a black suit in sneakers paving the way to climb the highest mountain. It was dawn, and I had my head torch and my climbing gear.

I peek and fret and made a big sigh, asked myself why in the world would I wanted to do this. I continued walking to the straight path down to the foot of the mountain, and the slope started going steep. I started the climb feeling determined and motivated.

Two tour guides appeared along the way, one is a middle-aged woman, and the other was a sporty guy in his forty’s.

I could not see their face because it was a little blurry. I kept up with the pace and did not look back, and then the ground started to shake as if the land would split into two.

The earthquake took minutes before it stopped. I pretended to feel relaxed and unaffected while the two hurried down to get some help. I decided to climb up without restraining myself.

I saw a waterfall in the middle part of the mountain. I felt thirsty and drank the cold water. I also filled my jug with some water from the falls.

I carried on in my journey, grabbed some wood as I ascended the steep slope. Since the sun is setting, I stopped and found a place to set up my tent. I laid down and got some rest, and when I woke up, I was in a different dream.

This time I was with my high school buddies in track and field. We ordered some pizzas and lasagnas and got ready for the climb.

We went up together and reminisced about our experiences when we were in high school. We rested for a while, ate our favorite pizza, and ate some energy bars like chocolates and candies.

As we climbed, we saw an elevator on the side of the mountain, and people entered it. I felt curious, so we decided to try it also.

When we were inside the elevator, there were only two buttons to click. It is either top or bottom. I tried pushing the latter button, and as it goes down, I saw different species of sea animals.

There were dolphins, walrus, whales, sea lions, penguins, starfishes, and octopuses. We were like in an ocean park in Hongkong.

I was so overwhelmed to see the scenery. We did not come out of the elevator, but instead, I pushed the button going up. On our way to the top, We saw different flying animals.

There were eagles, bats, pigeons, and hawks. As we pass through the clouds, we saw an amusement park. It was the end of the elevator ride, so we got out and enjoyed ourselves.

We also saw this big feast with the most delicious food served, and it was for free. Feeling excited, we entered the banquet place and ate all our favorite food. I woke up feeling hungry and craving the food that I saw in my dream.