Whenever I try to explain to someone what a dream is I usually tell them to see dreams as a metaphorical story and avoid caring about every single little symbol. Respecting every single little symbol in a dream can be important to pinpoint insights, but if you get really good at interpretation you begin to see the metaphorical story and feel the insight instantly. If you are good at monitoring your thoughts, retracing recent events, seeing metaphors in the dreams applying to your life already (because you pay attention every single day), then interpretation for yourself becomes like an instinct.
I also explain to people that the dream itself is a message that says “This is your problem”, “This is how you are wasting your time”, or “This is why you are mistaken about the future.”
What’s also interesting to notice metaphorically about dreams is the setting or experience we receive them in. You are in a bed or you just took a nap. Metaphorically the setting has you positioned by God saying you are not doing anything about this issue that you are “sleeping” or “napping” with because you are not choosing to “wake up” to reality or “get out of bed” to change something or smarten up.