Ian Wallace Interpretation:
Dream: You have gone to the shops to buy something that you are sure you need, but are finding it really difficult to find the shop you want to go to. When you eventually do get to the shop, you are quite anxious that you don’t have enough money to make your purchase. You look around for alternative things to buy instead but can’t make up your mind what you actually need the most. The shop assistants are usually really unhelpful, trying to convince you to buy things that you don’t genuinely need or seem far too expensive to you.
Meaning: When you dream of being lost at the shops, you are sometimes unsure of how to realize your true value in waking life. Shops are filled with items for sale, usually with their value clearly displayed on price tags, and your ability to buy these items is often determined by your personal worth. Trying to find the right shop suggests you are finding it difficult to find a situation in your daily life that will allow you to really demonstrate your real value. Although you may eventually find the shop, not having enough money shows that you may have found the right showcase for your abilities but lack the confidence to have your talents fully recognized by others. If you lack self-assurance in your ability to do what you really want to, then you often shop around for opportunities where other people will more readily value your talents. Relying on others for your sense of worth, however, can make it difficult to decide where you are valued most. Banking on other people for your sense of value is reflected in the behaviour of the shop assistants. Their unhelpful attitude shows that others aren’t helping you find your real value or are failing to recognize your true worth. The most valuable thing you can possess is a confident sense of selfworth as it can be difficult to fulfil your needs if you do not value yourself enough.
Action: The message from this dream is that you are more valuable than you think but you are finding it difficult to state your true worth in your relationships or in the workplace. This is because you aren’t really valuing yourself enough and are just giving yourself away to others, with no recognition of your true value. One of the best ways to ensure that others do recognize your value is to just say ‘No’ to them when you feel their demands are unreasonable. This will stop you being taken for granted and help you to claim your real worth.
Background: From the first time we buy sweets with our pocket money, shops are places where we demonstrate our worth and command the attention of others. This feeling continues into adulthood where we can continue to assert our selfworth by indulging in bouts of retail therapy. We are often addicted to bargain hunting and sales because they help us to realize that we are actually a lot more valuable than we usually think we are. Our word ‘credit’ is derived from the Latin credere, meaning ‘to believe’, and the more we believe in ourselves, the more valuable we become.