i had a dream last night. it only seemed to last a second, but it seemed important.

all that happened was i found my lanyard/id that i had been looking for in real life. it was in a specific place, on a shelf on my mom's beside table. the table and me were the only ones, the background was endless. i sat down infront of it and picked it up, then my dream ended

A lanyard consists of pieces of cord that are woven together. The dream could have to do with the way different things in your life keep connecting and disconnecting with each other and weaving around each other.

well if you wake up and find your lanyard either on your mom's nightstand or somewhere very obvious, then your brain simply found a way to tell your conscious mind what it was missing. Your eyes and brain have a very special relationship. While your eyes see everything light reflects off of, your conscious brain only sees what it is looking for or is focused on. Meanwhile, your subconscious is seeing EVERYTHING, like a video recorder. The conscious mind won't necessarily see that flash of color or silvery glint of your lanyard, but your subconscious certainly did. That's why we dream those "aha!" dreams or why pilots in planes constantly find themselves looking back to that one malfunctioning instrument for no apparent reason. Your lanyard is probably somewhere you've been many times and haven't been able to really remember where you left it because your conscious mind is cluttered with day-to-day activity.

If, however, your lanyard really is nowhere to be found, then I'd link it to something more symbolic. Maybe something in your life (a significant other, that pay raise, or a character trait you wish you had) is missing or recently lost and your brain is trying to tell you it's attainable, but just hard to find. I'd explore the possibilities; maybe make a physical list of what you feel you're missing right now... you might feel silly, but sometimes that hand-to-pen-to-paper junction makes a magical little difference =] good luck!