The Day You Meet Yourself: A journey through memory, meaning, and the future self that awaits you.

By Alan Lowis

The antique shop, the airplane and a movie worth watching

I was recently in a small shop when I noticed an old metal airplane—weathered, red, once treasured by a child. Just a simple object. But something about it stopped me, struck me.

It brought back memories of a movie I watched many years ago.

One that left a lasting impression.

A story about a man… and a version of himself he had long forgotten.

A film that asked:

What if who you used to be—before the world changed you—came back to remind you of what really matters?

🎬 The Movie

If you’ve never seenThe Kid, starring Bruce Willis, it’s worth watching.

It’s the story of a man whose life gets interrupted in the most unexpected way—by someone who forces him to look at himself differently. What unfolds is funny, strange, touching… and ultimately transformative.

The story centers a successful image consultant in Los Angeles. Outwardly, He has it all: wealth, a prestigious career, and a luxurious lifestyle. But beneath the surface, he's cynical, disconnected, and unfulfilled. His relationships are strained, particularly with his father, and he lives alone, having forgotten the dreams and joys of his youth.

For those who have not yet seen it, in an effort to avoid giving you a complete “spoiler”, let’s just say it’s a touching story that asks:

What if the version of you that was once full of hope and wonder could visit and remind you who you really are?

And

What if the version of you that’s still ahead—the one who has lived well and fully—could thank you now, for having hope, having dreams and creating that future life?

It’s not just entertainment. It’s a mirror.

The kind that makes you ask:

Am I living a life that my younger self would be proud of?

Am I becoming someone my future self will thank?

Ancient and Modern Wisdom on the Path of Becoming

Even when life feels uncertain—

Even when you’re not at your best…

Even when the road ahead seems clouded—

There is a path. And it is yours.

You may not see the whole way forward.

You may question your direction, your worth, or your timing.

But life has a way of showing you the way—if you learn to listen.

There are signs.

There’s a kind of pain that arises when you’re avoiding your true path—a restless, grinding ache of misalignment.

And there’s a different kind of pain that appears when you’re walking through difficulty, but in the right direction—a pain that deepens you, grows you, prepares you.

One hurts and shrinks you.

The other shapes and strengthens you.

This distinction—the forgotten child within, the becoming self ahead, and the one who must choose in the present—

It isn’t just poetic. It’s universal.

It’s been whispered across centuries—in scripture, in philosophy, in psychology, and in neuroscience.

Across cultures and belief systems, you’ll find the same quiet truth:

You are not random. You are planted.

You are not lost. You are becoming.

And even the muddiest of life's seasons may be the ones that allow you to bloom to most.

✡️ Judaism – The Soul Descends to Rise

In Jewish thought, especially in Kabbalistic teachings, the soul descends into the world—not to escape suffering, but to elevate it. The descent itself is part of the purpose. The soul is likened to a seed planted in the soil of life, needing darkness before it can rise.

The Talmud says:

“In the way a person wants to go, they are led.” — Makkot 10b

This suggests divine partnership with your will. You’re not just a passive character in fate. When you lean into your becoming—when you desire to grow—the universe bends to meet you.

The seed sprouts upward.

And in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers):

“It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” — Avot 2:16

Your calling doesn’t need to be complete. You only need to step into the process of becoming. 

That act alone is sacred.

✝️ Christianity – “The Kingdom of God is within you.”

“The kingdom of God is within you.” — Luke 17:21

This isn’t just a metaphor for spiritual presence. It’s a radical declaration:The divine potential, the fullness of your calling, the beauty of your becoming—it’s already planted inside you.

Your job is to grow into it. To nurture it. To become what’s already waiting to be born.

You don’t earn your worth—you uncover it.

And in the Gospel of Matthew:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed... though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.” — Matthew 13:31–32

Your purpose may feel small or buried now. But within it is the capacity for greatness, shelter, and fruitfulness.

You are not random. You are seeded with intention.

🪷 Buddhism – The Lotus Already in the Mud

If you want to see the lotus, you must be willing to look into the mud.

The lotus flower is the most enduring Buddhist symbol of human becoming.

Why? Because the lotus grows only in muddy water. The mud is not the obstacle—it’s the source. Without it, the lotus never blooms.

This mirrors your life:

Your struggles are not detours. They are the nutrients of your spiritual flowering.What you are meant to become is not separate from your pain—it grows through it.

Y

our worst days become the soil of your highest self.

🌱 Tathāgatagarbha – The “Buddha Nature” Within You

In Mahayana Buddhism, the doctrine of Tathāgatagarbha teaches that every being possesses Buddha-nature—the seed of awakening.

All beings are Buddhas... they only have to recognize it.

You are not trying to become something foreign or outside you. You are uncovering what was always there.

The ignorance, fear, ego, trauma—all these are like clouds.

But the sky is always there behind them.

Your future self, your highest self—it’s not an invention. It’s a revelation.

🔥 Amor Fati – The Fire That Transforms

The ancient Greek and Roman Stoics had a phrase: Amor Fati—love of fate.

Not just acceptance of what has happened.

But gratitude for it. Even the pain. Especially the pain.

“The obstacle becomes the way.” — Marcus Aurelius

What once seemed like a curse, you may one day look back on as the moment that shaped you, strengthened you, gave you empathy, or gave you purpose.

This is the future self, whispering:

“Everything served.”

🌿 Indigenous Wisdom – Wholeness Across Time

In many indigenous traditions, life is seen as a circle—past, present, and future selves coexisting in sacred rhythm.

Ceremonies often involve connecting with ancestors, healing the inner child, or envisioning one's legacy for the next seven generations. These rituals honor that we are more than one moment—we are a continuum.

The past you is not discarded; they are honored. The future you is not separate; they are dreamed into being. You are a continuous whole transcending time, eternally connected.

🧠 Jung – The Self as a Timeless Whole

Carl Jung believed, as I do, that we are more than we appear in any moment.

We are a mosaic: child, adult, elder… dreamer, doer, healer.

He called the process of becoming whole individuation—not becoming someone else, but returning to who we always were.

He saw time not as linear, but symbolic. He believed our future self already exists, calling us into becoming.

That moments of “regression” are not failure, but signs the soul is retrieving something essential from the past. A forgotten truth. A lost dream.

Likewise, visions, dreams, and inspirations from your future are not fantasy—they are your deeper self calling you forward.

The inner child is always present. The future self already exists. The present is a crucible—where both meet.

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”

🌿 Neuroscience – You Can Rewire Who You Are

Today, science confirms what poets and prophets already knew:

• Your past emotions can be reactivated to give you strength now.

• Your future visions can bring power from that future self to reshape your actions today.
  

Studies show that your sense of self is a dynamic construction—your brain stitches together past, present, and future constantly.

When you visualize your future self with vivid emotional clarity, your brain begins encoding that vision as reality….  You literally start to walk toward it.

Likewise, healing old wounds can restore energy and optimism—as though a forgotten part of you rejoins you bringing their strength.

You can feel wonder again. You can feel strong again. You can borrow joy from the future, and resilience from the past or vice versa.  Your past and future selves are always there to guide, strengthen and remind you of who you are.

This isn’t fantasy. This is biology and neurology. And it means you wield its power.

💡 Steve Jobs – “You Can Only Connect the Dots Looking Backward”

In his famous Stanford commencement speech, Jobs said:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.”

And he was right.

One day, you’ll look back on today—the struggle, the confusion, the uncertainty—and you’ll see them not as a failures or pains, but as a valuable turning points.

That’s what happens when we live with intention.

The dots start to make sense.

Feast on Your Life: A Homecoming to the Self

Sigmund Freud once remarked, “Wherever I go, I find a poet has been there before me.”

And the truth of those words become evident in Walcott’s heartfelt poem “Love After Love".

The time will come

when, with elation

you will greet yourself arriving

at your own door, in your own mirror

and each will smile at the other’s welcome...

There is a moment ahead in your life—a real one—when you will look at yourself not with criticism or comparison, but with wonder. You will smile in the mirror and see not your flaws, not your failings, but your journey.

You will see yourself—finally—and say: Welcome home.

The Future You Is Waiting

We often think of “becoming” as something distant, vague, maybe even unreachable. But this poem reminds us: the self you dream of, the you with peace in their eyes and joy in their breath, is already waiting.

They’re not a stranger.

They’re the one who knows how hard it’s been. How often you kept going when no one was watching. How you chose love when bitterness would’ve been easier. How you built, step by step, the life you're standing in now—or still striving toward.

This isn’t fantasy. This is faith. Faith in the real possibility that the best version of you is already within you—calling you forward.

“You will love again the stranger who was your self.”

Time Travel Through Gratitude

This poem invites us to “take down the love letters... the photographs... the desperate notes.” 

To reverently reminisce though our life, our past. It’s a call to sit with those memories in celebration.

Look back at your life and whisper, Thank you.

Thank you to the younger you who dared to believe.

Thank you to the version of you who endured, who learned, who stumbled, and still kept walking.

Thank you to the one who chose to love, again and again, even through disappointment.

The feast is your life. And you’ve earned every delicious bite.

You Are Worth Coming Home To

The deeper truth hidden in these lines is about self-worth. The true and most beautiful kind that comes from finally realizing: you were always enough.

Even when you were lost. Even when you were messy. Even when you forgot yourself while trying to be everything for everyone else.

You were still worthy.

And you still are.

Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life…

Purpose Grows from Love

This isn’t just a poem about healing. It’s a roadmap to purpose.

Because when you reclaim your heart, you also reclaim your why. Your calling. Your voice. Your gift. Your reason.

You’re not here to be perfect.

You’re here to be present.

To live a life only you can live.

To do the things only you can do.

That kind of meaning doesn’t arise from trying to be someone else. It comes from fully becoming yourself.

Your Future Self Will Thank You

So imagine that future moment. Really see it.

You look in the mirror and meet the eyes of someone who has become everything you once hoped.

They are calm. Fulfilled. Grounded. Joyful.

And they look back at you—the you reading this now—and they say:

Thank you.

Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for staying strong.

Thank you for believing.

Thank you for the effort, the discipline, the love, the vision.

Thank you for carrying the dream forward.

Because now... we get to live it.

Reflection and Realignment: Exercises To Give You Strength Here and Now

Let’s take this from concept to embodied reality.

These practices are designed to align past, present, and future, so you can feel whole—so you can begin to feast on your life.

🔄 Exercise 1: Reconnect with Your Past Self

Find a photo of yourself as a child. Or close your eyes and imagine yourself as you were years ago…

Think of a time in childhood or youth when you were most fully alive.

When you felt wonder, confidence, awe, curiosity, love.

That version of you still lives inside you—not in memory alone, but in emotional signature.Your nervous system still knows how to feel that way.

✅ Close your eyes.

✅ See what you saw then.

✅ Feel what you felt.

✅ Breathe that emotion into the present.

That is your strength—not lost, just waiting.

Ask:

• What was I excited about then?

• What dreams lived in me?

• What feelings did I feel easily—joy, curiosity, love?

• 
  

Now breathe those emotions into the present moment.

Let your younger self gift you their aliveness again.

🔮 Exercise 2: Listen to Your Future Self

Picture yourself five, ten, or twenty years from now. You’ve made it through. You’re wise. Kind. Fulfilled.

And they’re looking at you current self and saying:

“Thank you for not giving up. Thank you for staying with the work, the healing, the vision.”

What wisdom do they have for you?

What do they now understand about your current pain?

Let them send you strength backward in time.

Ask your future self:

• What do I need to know right now?

• What am I doing today that’s building the life you live?

• What pain in my current life will turn out to be a blessing?
  

Let them remind you of your strength, refocus you on your path, let them thank you for the work you're doing now.

🧭 Exercise 3: Embrace Amor Fati

Make a list of three past life challenges that still might hurt or confuse you.

Now, for each, write how it might have helped shape you, how it might have actually served...

Ask:

• What did I learn?

• Who did I become because of it?

• How might it serve me or someone else one day?
  

Even if you’re not sure yet—hold the possibility that the dots will connect.

🧭 Strength in the Present: Anchored Between Three Selves—and One Greater Source

You never walk alone—not truly.

Even when you feel lost, there are four powerful forces walking with you:

• 🧒 Your Past Self – the warm wind and and joyful fire behind you

• 🌅 Your Future Self – the lighthouse ahead

• 🧘‍♂️ Your Present Self – the bridge, the hero, the becoming

• 🕊️ And the Infinite, the Divine – the breath of life, the quiet presence, the love that’s always within you
  

Call it God, the Universe, Nature, or Grace—this fourth companion is not limited by time.

You are not alone in your becoming.

You are supported. You are Loved. You are Called.

🧒 Your Past Self – The Flame Behind You

Your past self is a warm, powerful wind at your back.

It’s the strength you earned by surviving what you never thought you could.

It’s the hope and wonder you once felt, before the world made you forget.

It’s every version of you that kept going, that believed, that dreamed.

All the energy, the joy, the youthful fire of possibility—it’s still there.

That fire still burns. Turn toward it, even for a moment, and you’ll feel its power.

Let it remind you how far you’ve come.

Let it remind you how extraordinary you already are.

🌅 Your Future Self – The Lighthouse Ahead

Your future self is a beacon in the distance.

They’re not shouting orders. They’re not judging you.

Quite the opposite. They are cheering you on and calling you forth.

They simply shine—calm, whole, grounded, radiant.

They stand as living proof:

It all works out.

Even the pain becomes purpose.

Keep walking—I’m right here.

Every step you take now builds the path towards them.

Every act of courage, patience, or kindness brings you closer.

The life you long for, your extraordinary future, is already waiting for you to rise and claim it.

🧘‍♂️ The Present You – The Bridge, the Hero, the Becoming

Here’s the miracle:

You are the only one who can stand between those two selves and bring them together.

You can gather the strength of your past and follow the light of your future—and live today with clarity, compassion, and courage.

This is the moment where all versions of you meet.

This is where healing happens.

This is where your transformation and growth begin.

You are the bridge.

You are the flame-bearer and the light-seeker.

You are the one who walks—and becomes.

Your past holds the raw energy of joy, innocence and awe.

Your future holds the perspective and peace, of meaning.

Together, they empower you—right now—

To choose, create, and to grow into everything you are capable of being—

everything you were made for, and everything your heart has always known you would become.

💫 If this resonated with you… Share it.

If this helped you remember who you’ve been…

reminded you of who you are…

or gave you hope for who you’re still becoming—

Share this page.

Someone else may need that same reminder.

To honor and draw strength from their past.

To trust in and create their future.

And to come home to themselves and be happy and centered in this moment.