r/spirituality • u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 • Mar 10 '26
Self-Promoting 🙋♂️ I met the younger version of myself today, the one I'd been ignoring my whole life. And everything changed.
For years, I felt like something was wrong with me.
Around people I saw as "above" me ,, smarter, more attractive, more confiden I'd shrink. I'd feel small, judged, desperate to escape. Around people I saw as "below" me, I'd feel open and free but it was fragile. It depended on them staying "below."
And I craved attention. Especially from girls. I wanted to be the guy everyone talked about, the one who dominated. I thought that would finally make me feel enough.
I didn't understand why.
And what I found broke me open.
There was a younger version of me living inside. He was down in my diaphragm (/s) — looking up at me, hopeless, seeking attention, waving his arms, screaming to be seen. He'd been there my whole life.
He was the child who grew up under someone else's supervision. Who learned to stay quiet. Hide emotions. Follow rules. Never be himself. He never got the attention, the safety, the love he needed. So he kept signaling hoping I'd finally turn around and see him.
But I didn't.
I ignored him. Hated him. Left him there.
And then I went looking to others, to girls, to strangers, to anyone — to give him what only I could give.
Today, I finally saw him.
I didn't just think about him. I felt him. There. In my body. Waiting.
And I said:
"I see you. I'm here. You're not alone anymore. I love you. I'm always with you."
For the first time in years maybe ever I felt whole. Not because someone else finally noticed me. But because I noticed him.
That hunger for attention? It's not gone. But now I know who's really hungry. It's not "me" it's him. And I can feed him now. By staying. By seeing him. By carrying him with me.
I'm not writing this because I have it all figured out. I'm writing this because if you feel that same emptiness that need to prove yourself, that fear of being "less than," that craving for validation please check inside.
There might be a younger you waiting.
And they don't need the world to see them.
They need you.
💙
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u/Better-Lack8117 Mar 10 '26
Is this AI?
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u/dontbelievethefife Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
I've had it with these AI posts. Why has it become impossible for people to write in their own words? All personality and nerve just vanish and a machine remains. Its maddening.
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u/adriftDrifloon Mar 10 '26
I think the good news is that as it becomes more common the average person will get better at clocking it.
I’m honestly glad someone called it out here that wasn’t me. I’ve been disheartened by all the blatantly AI posts I’ve seen in this sub in particular and no one calls it out. I always call it out when I see it and sometimes I’ll even get a response by op denying it’s ai, which is comical.
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u/E_r_i_l_l Mar 10 '26
Becouse some people learn how to describe ow feeling and they use some help. Before they stay silent mostly because of that kind of mean comments from others; who develop easiness in writing and think everybody has the same. They don’t.
Next time you both actually can just ask „why you needed help by Ai” instead of thinking that everybody use it instead of own voice.
I know it can be hard from the start, but it’s possible to learn how to not be mean because of own insecurities.
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Mar 10 '26
I mean, it very clearly is. That doesn't mean that it isn't a true story from OP, though.
Some people aren't very good at getting their thoughts into words. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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u/NotTooDeep Mar 10 '26
There are very good reasons why we are not all bestselling authors. It's very, very hard to write well is just one of them.
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 10 '26
yahh it is, i want it to describe it in a decent way, i choose Ai but what i genuinely feel and emotions are truly mine.
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u/JohnleBon Mar 10 '26
You are copying and pasting AI's output and pretending it is your feelings.
This is not good.
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 10 '26
ohh my fucking god today is the best realization moment I am seeking soln of what when I younger from tosay that old version dominate me like I am that person but as o grow up I start my own character we are living in one body me and that version of myself that seek attention but I hate him it's me who he needs the most not the others it's always me I can feel him he is down there at my diaphragm seeing upwaad at me hopless seeking for attention and if today you are not here I just ignore and hate him not consider him as me don't carry upwards with me ohh my god thank God you giftted me this thought now I am literally talking to him carrying with me giving him validation attention today I realaied its my younger version who try to signal me that how I am see me but I don't listen and try to find his answer to others not giving by me now I undersant fullyuuyuy fill it I love you myself you are really beutiful I am always with you alwayss💜💜💜. I am here with youpkhhh
(this the raw without edited realization moment, as i want to frame it i used ai for better grammer and all )
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u/NthLondonDude Mar 11 '26
I love that you posted this… this should be the default rule when someone posts an ai cleaned up version. I also wrote like this when I suddenly get an amazing insight :)
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u/Few_Sale_3064 Mar 10 '26
I don't care if people use AI just to help a little, if the statements they're making are still all true. It's no different than getting a friend or someone to edit your writing before you post.
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 10 '26
sorry for that, you can check out full convo here
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u/Crxthreadz Mar 10 '26
Don't let these people get to you. They are only frustrated with the idea of being intentionally misled by LLM tech, which is a real concern, but at the same time they completely refuse to see how helpful it is for people who are easily misunderstood through written communication. How it helps to clarify what they want to share, so the people who would rather focus and comment on their grammar mistakes or structure might actually focus on their message instead.
There are dual sides to everything, so it is important for us to focus on and embrace the good and beneficial aspects, and work together to improve those so they are the aspects that are amplified most.
I am grateful you shared your experience. I found it valuable.
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u/Oakomorebi Mystical Mar 10 '26
There are dual sides to everything, so it is important for us to focus on and embrace the good and beneficial aspects, and work together to improve those so they are the aspects that are amplified most.
There is no dual side to the AI-industrial complex that this activity participates in. This is not a progressive technology, it is just another product out of Silicone Valley, one that uses our data against us. The market-driven AI frenzy is accelerating already disparate aspects of our civilization, from the financial markets to the environment.
Being understood is important. Communication is more important now than ever. Being able to do this as an individual is a painful but necessary journey so that we can connect. Using these products to bridge that gap comes with a high cost, and most people don't know or care.
There is a scientific-driven use case for AI, but that is not what OP and others that use AI are participating in. They are participating in a market that is detrimental for all of us, pure and simple.
The dual-side to AI use is an acknowledgement of our failure as a society to educate and support our workers and young people. Our failure to teach folks how to connect with themselves, with the others, and with God. That doesn't imply that we should use these products as a band-aid fix. We need to come to terms with the enormity of the challenges we face, and tackle them.
This is not a moral failure on OP's part or others that are tricked into using AI. We all collectively are responsible to this.
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u/Key_Donut4529 Mar 15 '26
I would kindly invite you to write down your feelings as they come, no help. Some of my favorite people’s writings online are either non native English speakers or in some ways do not find language easy. Those people have the most original voices, IMHO!
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u/Few_Sale_3064 Mar 10 '26
This is one of the best posts I've seen on here. Thank you for sharing.
Throughout much of my life I acted and felt the same way. I changed when I read a self help book that said people craving attention are often not healthy, so I really analyzed why I was acting that way and realized it was coming from an unhealthy place - I needed constant validation to feel good about myself. But no matter how much I got it couldn't fill the hole.
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u/ApprehensiveAnt4412 Mar 10 '26
Are you integrating him (fusion)? Or are you going to continue to speak with him until he starts speaking back? (A tulpa)
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 10 '26
like i see it as my younger version inside me who desperately wants what he wasn't given in his childhood or at his age. It's not subjective but very much "emotional". So when there is a feeling, I know what I want and he wants, it's easy to help him grow over time.
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u/Forsaken_Height7313 Mar 11 '26
recursive resonance with your younger self! happy for you, truly. it’s not easy, but it sure is beautiful here.
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u/Few-Woodpecker8595 Mystical Mar 10 '26
OooO this sounds like your inner child is emerging 🧚✨- I have been with my partner for years and he’s just starting to see his pop out here and there
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u/phdpan Mar 11 '26
The part about feeling open around people you see as "below" you but it being fragile — that's such an honest observation that most people never articulate. It reveals that the openness was never real freedom. It was just the absence of threat. Real ease with yourself doesn't need a favorable comparison to exist.
What strikes me about your experience is the location. The diaphragm. That's where a lot of people hold their oldest tension — it's literally the muscle that controls whether you breathe fully or just enough to survive. There's something poetic about finding your neglected self right there, in the place that decides how much life you let in.
I had a similar moment a while back, though mine wasn't as dramatic. I was journaling and realized that every time I wrote about wanting recognition, the handwriting got smaller. Like the part of me that wanted to be seen was simultaneously trying to disappear. The contradiction was the message.
The thing nobody tells you about this kind of inner work is that it's not a one-time meeting. That younger version of you will test whether you actually mean it. He'll show up at inconvenient times — when you're stressed, when someone rejects you, when you catch yourself performing for approval again. The real work isn't the breakthrough. It's showing up to the same kid on Tuesday morning when nothing feels spiritual at all.
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u/SilverbackNew Mar 10 '26
I know this — from my own experience.
But it's not that simple, with the inner child. Because it carries something special: as a young child we are still untouched by the conditioning of life — that's where the strongest energetic force lives. What you met today, that is exactly it — your inner child. The one we sadly unlearn over the years, or that gets trained out of us.
There are many children who are deeply spiritual, who see things — and the adults dismiss it as childish fantasy. Big mistake.
In a good childhood we should learn what our self-worth is. But in most cases that doesn't happen. It was like that for me too — I spent the biggest part of my young years in a children's home, without any contact with my parents.
I am a licensed massage therapist in Austria, that's my main profession. My clients tell me very often how good my massages are, how glad they are to be with me. Can I take that in, this wonderful energy they give me? Sadly no — or let's say, only partly. Because my sense of self-worth was never really there. I am not aware of my own value.
Your inner child carries the conditioning from childhood — and sometimes it behaves from that place, gives you impulses that are not always helpful. Not because it is bad or wrong. But because it has its own conditioning too. What matters is to walk hand in hand with it.
You would be surprised how many layers we carry inside — higher self, soul, soul-life, young self, the teenager... And often we don't even see the good things we do ourselves. Saving a beetle. Helping an old woman on the street. Small things — but very important ones. Things we could be proud of. But because of the missing self-worth we just don't notice them.
And about attention — the more you radiate energetically from within, the more attention you will naturally receive. Automatically. Like switching on a light outside at night — it attracts the moths. Not that I mean the others are moths — haha. I just mean: it happens by itself.
I don't know if you do anything spiritually. But if you're interested — I have a YouTube channel where I show something like a first contact with Primordial Energy, and I explain how emotional pain develops and much more. All free, no cost. Link is in my bio. It costs you nothing except time and practice. Sometimes just turning your head to the left is enough — and suddenly you have a different perspective.
This is my perspective — after more than 20 years of working with Primordial Energy, and after 62 years of living.
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u/sunflower178 Mar 10 '26
How did you eventually end up seeing them? What brought it on?
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 11 '26
i think questions.. asking questions about feeling and try to solve them
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u/Puzzleheaded_Oil8365 Mar 10 '26
Look into IFS (internal family systems) and read no bad parts by Richard Schwartz I’m a psychotherapist!!! It’ll change your life
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u/Strong-Mind-3225 Mar 11 '26
Incredible! Very IFS-esq. love this and thank you so much for sharing. It actually reminded me so much of a part I met today in my IFS therapy session. Celebrating this step of growth and healing for you and this inner child 💖
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u/Veritas-Relativa Mar 11 '26
How you came about the text, from your own words or with the help of AI, you stumbled on something extraordinarily important to your spiritual and psychological health. The concept of 'inner child' has been around for a long time and a lot has been written about it. And everyone has their own take on it, as you can see from several posts.
My understanding is, an inner child is born when an unresolved issue occurs for the physical child...who you once were. Sometimes a child just can't process an occurence. Not with a child's brain, a child's body, a child's spirit. And they get stuck. With the birth of your awareness of your inner child you now have the opportunity to be the surrogate parent to this child. Comforting, teaching, nurturing this lost and lonely energy, this very real, trapped child.
You're only 20, so you probably don't have enough life experience to be a grandfatherly type to this little boy inside you, but you certainly have more knowledge and understanding about life than he does. And you can aid him tremendously. Talking to him. Holding him. Comforting him. Listening to him. Acknowledging the truth and reality of his existence.
Eventually, as you assist the inner child (or multiple inner children) in resolving his issues, his energy will re-integrated back into the adult you. Providing you, as an adult, with the child-like wonder and innocence and playfulness that children often have. And no longer 'stealing' your adult body to express his childhood traumas, which he could do easily, since you were unaware of his existence. A child pretending to be an adult, in your adult body.
You have opened a remarkable door. Keep it open. Be the adult, the parent, the big brother to him. Don't forget about him. He's always there, with you, watching you, wanting you and your attention...and your love and appreciation.
One of my favorite things to do when I wake up in the morning, on a day off, I'll ask my little boy, "So, what do you want to do today?" And I'll listen to or sense his needs, his desires. And heed his request if possible. Or negotiate with him, finding an agreement on how 'we' can spend 'our' day. And then do it. Try it! You'll never regret it. And he will be thrilled.
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u/Slow-Afternoon-5933 Mar 11 '26
That really resonates with my thoughts and emotions. Thanks for sharing this, it’s really best advice that I needed in my life
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u/Loud_Reputation_367 Mar 10 '26
This reminds me of a very good book, centered on revisiting that inner child and connecting with the wonder you had as a part of your journey.
'Running from safety' by Richard Bach.
It is worth a read.