I think dreams can reflect what's currently on your mind, good or bad. I think they are not so straight forward to decode though, but you'll have a better idea than most about your own dreams - because it's your brain!
The mind works associatively, storing memories and ideas etc with its own cataloguing system. Memories are stored and linked using this highly personal/individual catalogue. I think we see this in action (when awake) when something triggers a seemingly unrelated memory in us. Example; you're walking down the street and see a bus, and you suddenly start thinking of your grandmother - because, for you, there's a link between buses and your grandma.
I reckon that in dream state (or brain maintenance mode) these associations are sometimes triggered by random brain maintenance activity, Or sometimes, by what's been on your mind recently - or combinations of both. If you think about your dreams, you can usually find some kind of meaning or relevance to you. If you play 'join the dots' with the seemingly random dream images, you can derive some kind of relevance. But it may not be particularly profound and certainly not a prediction of things to come or anything like that!
These associations might not link only to memories of events or incidents.They could be to sounds, smells, colours, emotions or beliefs even, or maybe more abstract again. The thing is, they're all yours. If you're patient and can think laterally, you could probably work them through, possibly even gain some insights to yourself... but equally it could be a lot of work for not a lot of outcome! You usually know, at a pretty basic level, what has triggered your dream.
