I’ve been able to recognize and kinda control my dreams my whole life. Not all the time, not even very often, but when I do it’s always nightmares I can control, because that’s what tells me it’s a dream. I used to have a lot of nightmares as a kid, usually like giants trying to get me, or other crazy shit. My parents would tell me they weren’t real, and my dreams couldn’t hurt me. And I started to believe them, and then started to tell myself that when I did have nightmares. I used to just make myself wake up, and still do a lot of the time, it’s kinda creepy in dreams when you’re not just going along with them. If I do stay asleep I usually forget that I’m dreaming after a short time, but it’s usually by then I’m flying a spaceship or just like walking in the woods, and it’s dreamy type stuff anyways.