Realistic Dreams
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (127737)
Gainesville, Florida
March 3, 2026 3:47pm CST
There was a lot of chatter at work yesterday regarding an employee who supposedly fell off a ladder and was hurt. In our minds we (all the other employees) imagined a worst-case scenario of this employee falling off our 12-foot ladders we often use. But it turns out he "fell" off a 2-foot step stool. Rumors have it that he was upset about being scheduled to work and was looking for a reason to go home.
Anyway, that was the backstory that led to my dream last night. In my dream, I was at work and had to climb up the 12-foot ladder to reach some boxes that were stored in some upper racks. While I was at the top of the ladder, another employee pushing a cart through the area accidentally bumped my ladder and caused it to tip, sending me crashing to the ground.
I awoke in my bed with such a jolt that for a second I thought I had really fallen. It took me a minute or two to get my bearings and realize I was in my bed and it had just been a dream. I then drifted back to sleep.
However, when I woke up this morning, all my muscles were painfully sore, as if I had actually fallen off the ladder and gotten hurt. But it was just a dream, right? As best as I can figure out, in real life all my muscles tensed up suddenly when I took the fall off the ladder in the dream world. Hence the full body soreness in the morning. I can't think of any other possible explanation for why I was so sore when I woke up this morning.
Have you ever had a dream so realistic that it actually affected you in real life?
14 people like this
13 responses
@DaddyEvil (169816)
• United States
4 Mar
After hearing something like that, I'm very happy I don't remember my dreams!
I hope you feel better quickly!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
Most of my dreams I don’t even remember, or forget as soon as I wake up. It’s rare I have a dream that sticks with me long after I wake up. This falling off the ladder dream was one of those.
And even more interesting, there were dreams I had as a child that I still remember vividly like it happened just yesterday.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (169816)
• United States
5 Mar
@moffittjc I remember childhood dreams, or some of them. I remember chasing something in big circles and then something chasing me in big circles. *shrug*
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar
@DaddyEvil I remember one particular dream where I woke up and saw the silhouette of a man standing in my bedroom doorway. I could see the outline of this "person" even in the black of the night. I cried out to my parents, who came and told me I was just having a nightmare. I wasn't terrified, but remember feeling uneasy. The silhouette didn't seem to be there to hurt me, but it was creepy that it was just standing there. I ended up going into my parents room and sleeping in the bed with them, and I still saw the outline of the man in their room! I remember my dad was aggravated and got up and turned on the light to show me there was nothing there. I eventually fell asleep again, but I still remember that dream vividly as if it happened yesterday.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar
@JudyEv Wow, I'm glad I don't have dreams like that. I don't really remember most of the dreams I have, but I will say that I rarely ever have bad dreams. Weird ones for sure, but rarely any bad ones.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
I’m still a little sore today, but not as bad as yesterday. I still think it’s funny that I suffered a “work injury” in my dreams.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (374040)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Mar
@moffittjc My BIL has violent dreams and flings himself all over the place, even falling out of bed on occasion. He gets bruises but hasn't had any other injuries that I'm aware of.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (204255)
• United States
4 Mar
Not like that no, but maybe being scared when I woke up, if It was a bad dream or something.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (204255)
• United States
4 Mar
@moffittjc You really participate actively in your dreams!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
I’ve had dreams where I was running or doing heavy/hard work, and have woken up tired and exhausted. It’s really interesting how what goes on in our mind affects the physical aspects of our body.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
@snowy22315 It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then I do actively participate in my dreams!
And most of the time, I don’t even remember my dreams when I wake up!
@lovebuglena (49822)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
Maybe you waking up with such a jolt as you put it is what resulted in the soreness when you woke up in the morning?
I’ve had dreams where when I woke up I felt like I was still in the dream…
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
I’ve had a few dreams like yours, where after I woke up I still felt like I was in the dream. Or sometimes I can’t distinguished where the dream world ended and the waking world started.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar
@lovebuglena Are you talking about deja vu moments? That happens to me sometimes, where I will do something, or I will be at a certain place, and all of a sudden my mind will be like, I've been here before, or I dreamed about this!
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (49822)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
@moffittjc I also had something happen to me during the day where I’m like did I have a dream about this?
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (216159)
• United States
4 Mar
Yes, I will sometimes wake up waving my arms all around and knocking things to the floor. In my dream I was waving my arms around for some reason.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
Usually, our brains shut down communication with our muscles while we sleep, or else we would act out every dream we have. But every now and then, it seems that our muscles override the brain signals.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar
@LindaOHio That would make sense, because that's about the time our brain starts waking up the different parts of our body, but yet not every part is fully awake, so it's possible that you are in a partial dream state and partial waking state when it happens.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (216159)
• United States
5 Mar
@moffittjc It's always right before I wake up.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (21636)
•
3 Mar
You had actually fallen off the ladder according to your subconscious
Ouch, it hurts
Your muscles tensed up as you were about to clatter into the ground and most likely die.
Now Jeff
We guys have all had dreams so realistic that we did something in real life whilst asleep or woken up the next day with a bo...
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
What I really thought was interesting was that in this dream I didn’t wake up while falling, like most people in their dreams. In this dream I didn’t wake up until I hit the ground.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
@Ineeddentures Not really. It was a tall ladder, but the fall wasn’t bad enough that I felt (even in my dream) that it was life threatening. It felt more like “oh this is probably going to hurt” than “oh I’m going to die.”
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
@Ineeddentures That must have been a crazy dream! I’ve had dreams where I’ve been floating above myself as I sleep. Maybe our souls need a break from our bodies every now and then!
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (167990)
• United States
4 Mar
I have one or two recurring unsettling dreams that make my mood really off. On the other hand I have dreams on occasion that seem to soothe and heal me. They make me calm. I wake up sore many mornings but that is just me. If I tense too much, as you describe, I end up with lots of muscle spasms.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
I’ve had dreams that have affected me mentally, or have left me emotionally sad or exhausted when I wake up, but I don’t ever recall having a dream that left me happy or elated when I woke up! Now that would be nice!
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar
I'm pretty sure all my muscles tensed up in my sleep when I fell to the floor in my dream. It was a very realistic dream, including the terror of falling off the ladder and hitting the ground.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
7 Mar
Oh, what a terrible dream. I hope and pray that you never have to experience dementia for real. My mom had it as well.
1 person likes this
@toniganzon (74439)
• Philippines
3 Mar
Yes, several times. Especially when it was something that's heartbreaking. I would cry for several minutes after waking up. Hard to recover from a sad dream.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar
That's happened to me many times, where a dream I've had left me emotionally drained. But this is the first time a dream I had left me physically hurting.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (130937)
• Marion, Ohio
4 Mar
Nothing like that thankfully. Glad that was just a dream
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
@wolfgirl569 Well, I didn’t die, so I at least got that going for me!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
Well, at least I know now what it’s like to fall off of a tall ladder! Haha
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (95214)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
3 Mar
Sure, this was some time ago, but I had a wonderful dream where my lat husband and I went dancing all night, I guess somewhere beyond the stars. I woke up still remembering the good time and could hardly get out of bed as if I had really been dancing all night. That made me feel good, actually, not bad and i hope he will take me dancing another time too.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
4 Mar
I’ve had dreams of similar fashion where I was actively working or doing physical activity in my dream, and then woke up tired or exhausted.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
3 Mar
I have vivid dreams from my early childhood that I still remember today. Every little detail, like the dream happened yesterday instead of 50+ years ago. Isn't it weird that we can have memories (even dream memories) stick with us like that?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (127737)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar
@DianneN I wonder why some dreams stay embedded in our long-term memories but others fade away?
1 person likes this
@DianneN (251049)
• United States
3 Mar
@moffittjc it’s incredible that some dreams/nightmares stick with us so long.
1 person likes this
