Lucidity At Last!

I know I've written about my "dream journal" and my fascination with dreaming, particularly lucid dreaming. I've been working for over a year now to achieve lucidity in my dreams. Finally, for the past two recalled dreams, I've been able to reach a lucid state. 

They were both dreams that involved me being in a situation where I thought that my life was in danger--both times I was being chased. Suddenly, I would think to myself, "I wish this would stop!" and then, "Then why don't I make it stop? I'm dreaming." 

Then I'd be really excited and I'd calm down, and I'd have a strong urge to wake up and open my eyes. After becoming lucid in the first dream, I couldn't control how I woke up. I thought it was exciting that I was able to reach that state, though, so I was happy. 

This morning, I was having a dream that reminded me of a hybrid of "I, Robot" and "I Am Legend." I was part of a small group of people who were roaming around and trying to hide from giant robot things that would storm the area and kill people. They would trick us and chase us down. They came out in the dark and in the day, and we would lock ourselves up. There were a lot of other details in the dream, but it isn't necessary for me to elaborate on them at the moment. 

Eventually, we were in a dark underground cavern. One of the robot things came inside and was chasing us. It had almost caught us when I reached lucidity. I held on for a little bit longer than last time, trying to keep the dream from falling apart around me. The robot and all of the people disappeared, and I was standing in the dark cavern by myself in perfect silence. I looked around, trying to bring my dream back, and then I was standing in a completely black environment. I could still picture the reddish rock walls of the cavern, but I don't think I could keep them. Since I'd lost it and didn't think I'd get it back, I just decided to open my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was still lucid or if I'd come back to reality and was just remembering what I'd dreamed. Now that I think about it, I wish I'd kept my eyes closed and tried to do something besides just standing there. 

I'm absolutely fascinated by this sort of stuff, so I've got myself worked up and all excited about going to sleep again. I think I'm getting better at it each time because I'm realizing what's happening, and maybe I'll be able to go lucid and stay asleep tonight :)