i recently noticed that every time i dream, i am aware that i am dreaming while it is happening. i've always known that i'm dreaming, but have never thought or had the choice to control myself. is this normal?

Knowing that you are dreaming is lucid dreaming and is normal for some people. It does not mean that there is anything wrong with you, if that is what you are asking.

You can read more about lucid dreaming and things related to lucid dreaming as well as other posts here in the Lucid Dreaming forum.

I'm not sure what you mean about having never thought or had the choice to control yourself.

oh. it meant that i knew i was dreaming, but while i dream, i don't think about trying to control myself or the dream

That is normal. Maybe now that you have been thinking about it in waking life, when you dream the idea will come into your mind that you can try to control the dream.

okay! i was kind of worried because i read somewhere that you shouldn't be lucid dreaming from the start

Where did you read this? That sounds strange to me. Maybe some people don't realize they are dreaming until they are already in the dream, but everyone is different.

i think i read it on dream moods. in the lucid dream part.

It is wrong. There is actually a type of lucid dream called a WILD (wake induced lucid dream), where you wake up from a dream, tell yourself that you want to continue the dream, then go back and continue having the same dream from where you left off.

I sometimes have dreams where I start off just thinking about something in bed and I turn it into a dream.

You can also have the type of lucid dream that you are probably thinking about, where you don't realize you are dreaming then something happens and you have that "AHA!" moment where you realize it is a dream.

By the way, Out of Body Experiences are associated with Wake Induced Lucid Dreams.