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This morning I had my second lucid dream. I got the sense I was dreaming, then did some reality checks. I looked at both my hands, and they were normal. I tried to look at a watch, but I don't wear one in waking life, and I didn't have one on in the dream. I was standing with a woman, and I looked at one of her hands, and it was normal. Finally, I looked at her other hand, and it only had four fingers (no thumb). I was wondering if other people have looked at their dream characters' hands, and if they are a reliable reality check for you? It cracks me up when so many reality checks fail to show that it's a dream.
I'm always a little confused about what it means for a reality check to "fail". If I do a reality check, say the hand check, and I see a normal hand, but it's a dream, did that check fail? If I do the same check later, and I see three fingers, did that check fail because it showed I'm not in waking reality? A little language fun, not very important because I've always known what people mean in context.
I had a funny experience in the dream, too. I opened a door to find a large dog barking angrily, so I closed it, then my body started floating and I had to hold the doorknob to keep from hitting the ceiling. I took it as a reminder that the dog could not hurt me, and I went inside and the dog was friendlier. LD's are amazing!
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If a reality check fails, as they all too often do, just keep trying. It really just means that your mind isn't really used to recognizing the inconsistencies that occur in dreams. Don't worry. Keep practicing your RCs and if they continually fail, pick another one. It might not be the perfect RC for you. I also use my hands as an RC. However, I've had reality checks fail before also. Don't worry. They don't work all of the time, but for the majority of the time they do.
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It's a good idea to always do several RC's. I had one dream where I did four RC's before I became lucid.
