When we are awake, our conscious mind is actively paying attention to the things we classify as important, our subconscious mind is making maps of what that particular event could mean. Our Unconscious mind stores information that we do not see as important. For example you are paying attention to this response but another object in the background or in your peripheral vision is being stored just in case it becomes important. During Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, our bodies are restoring damaged DNA and recharges. If the brain gets to a certain body part that is damaged it will report to back to the brain in images. Because you're not conscious at the time, your mind flashes images that seem to not make any sense at all, but if you pay close attention to the details you could decode your dreams easily. For example I dream that I am in an airplane that will not take off... it goes over the fence and is desperately making an attempt to fly in the city, on freeways. At the time, I was very unhappy with my job. I took each piece of information and broke it down. An airplane means (for me) new adventures, or experiences. the fact that it didn't take off means that I'm not in control, it should fly, you expect it to fly but it's getting nowhere, the fact that i'm in it means that i'm not taking off. It wasn't until i made the decision to get my NLP Certification and go out and be my own boss that I dreamt I was in a military cargo plane and it took off. That dream to me meant that I was in control and on a mission. Being that cargo planes are only used in missions or secret operations. I have decoded many dreams this way. They always have a message for me and when I finally crack the code, my life changes drastically.