Again,
My unqualified opinion is you are not sleeping a "deep" sleep.Depending on your age, diet and activity level it may not be such a big deal.It actually may be desirable in some professions, such a in the military.Usually it shows your alertness level is very high and even when you are sleeping some very minor movement or unusual disturbance will alert you.
Pundit, I happen to be amongst people with such a condition, (you may call them sufferers), ironically, I like the condition! And as far as I'm concerned, it has been with me for over 20yrs. I went along with the excitement throughout my teens, in my twenties and now in my (late) thirties, though is proving rather tough to pull up the stunt nowadays (no idea why)!
I understand you said you are just giving a personal opinion, thus as an added point to this discussion i would say, i think neither age, diet nor activity are major determining factors. But (I think) this phenomenon has a lot to do with the way an individual's brain is wired in distinguishing the conscious and the subconscious.
I'm making this point as I have had this condition for quite long time. All along, I have engaged myself in various activities, I have lived in different places, and to the obvious - I have taken in a variety of food as part of my wellbeing, yet at no time I recall in the past 20yrs not to be able to
stretch my sweet dreams or cut short nightmares! Pls bear in mind here that I am talking about a prolonged period of time, say 1 or 2 yrs where that has been impossible and you could subjectively equate in food, age and activity as factors. I know at discrete level, there are nights when this is practically impossible due to overworking or lack of sleep or simply other issues. But here is where lies my point to the argument that, age is not a determining factor.
Your question "Any side effects" highly indicate that you do not experience any.If I were you and did not experience any further problems like headaches, insomnia or restlessness I wouldn't lose sleep over my control of the subconscious.
If there are some accompanied issues you may want to see a professional for professional advice.
And oh, if you are a drinking man a bottle of beer or two, or glass of wine will put you to a restful slumber nicely.
In regard to your point above; through my own recollection, I would reiterate, I like the condition because in general it happens at someones' will and therefore think it is correct to say, it gives someone a sense of control over his/her sleep. For instance, i could sleep 4 to 5 hrs and spend the last hour or two manipulating my subconscious world before i get up, particularly when it is something to do with an 'enjoyable act' regardless of its nature. It is also possible (in my case) to contrive a pattern to which a dream is going to follow notwithstanding the unplanned nature of this phenomenon, though I must admit i find nightmares arduous to control.
Pundit, i think it would be ideal if i gave another example in order to substantiate my claim that, this has to do more with how ones' brain work than the peripheral influence acquired in ones' life pattern...... Okay, In my life i tend to think a lot about how to do things. Let me just say, i think i am a living victim of that frequent Discovery channel program called 'how things are made' or 'how did they do that' or something sounding similar. Mara nyingi napenda kupanga jinsi ya kuota, napanga niote ndoto gani n.k. Nikitoa mfano ni kuwa, kama nataka kutengeneza au kubuni kifaa fulani hivi cha kazi, (eg. kutengeneza peeler ya ndizi mbivu) basi huwa naweka conditions fulani hivi kabla ya kwenda kulala kama mathematical conditions ili kunisaidia imagination yangu wakati na conceptualize hicho kitu in real life. Ngoja niishie hapa kwa sasa. Kuna mengi naweza kusimulia ila napenda kusikia material yako tena ambayo mengi nayapenda na ni ya nguvu.
QM, naomba kama unaweza, toa mifano ya ndoto ambazo unaweza kuzi control. BTW, nimependa sana hii topic uliyoanzisha.
SteveD.