I have tried to control me dreams for some time now, but I have always had trouble in the same sense every time... here's the issue.

I have never had to work hard to actually realize that I am dreaming. As a matter of fact, for some reason, the majority of dreams I have, I realize some way or another that I am actually in the dream world. I consider myself very fortunate for this ability, but it seems almost useless when I get to my "second step".. i guess you could call it, and that is acting on that knowledge.

So, acting as if I am currently in a dream state, I just realized that I am in said state and now I want to act on it. (Like I said, I usually always know that I am dreaming, but for some reason when I try to control the dream, I fail).The first thing I will do is say to myself "I want to control this dream, WITHOUT (obviously) waking up." This is the hard part for me, because once I reach the "controlling" step per say, I become so excited and thrilled that my heart starts racing etc. and i just wake up. However, recently, rather than it being a sudden awakening, I have been coming back to the awake world slowly, as I have been trying to fight so hard to stay asleep.

So, if anybody could give me some advice on how to stay relaxed and controlled in this state, i would appreciate it... none of the generic steps or guides i find online seem to be working. Like i said, i could take a nap right now and the first dream i have i could realize that im in it, so as soon as i get a good answer I will try it! Thanks!