Are There Many Possible Versions of ”You”?
There could be many versions of your self-image. In the present, it’s more than one version. In the past, many versions existed. In the future, many will be, for sure. Overall, an infinity of “you” variants are out there!
In the present moment — different versions of you
At this very moment, while you may be thinking that you are just “you” and that’s it, in reality, there are more versions of “you” available at the same time. How is this possible?
Every person who knows you has designed in his/her mind a different version of you. It’s because they see you through their filters. They think you are who they expect you to be and they compare you to them. That’s why in spiritual teachings, it is said that everyone around us is just a reflection of ourselves and we, in our turn, are a reflection of the people around us. The way other people see you is their reflection of themselves.
Everyone else sees you in a specific way. This means they are seeing different versions of you, according to their perceptions.
For every person who knows you, there is a different version of yourself, because each of these individuals sees you differently. Also, keep in mind that their perception of you changes according to the news they hear about you, even when they don’t interact with you directly.
While one sees your qualities, another sees your flaws, another sees some of your positive traits and some of your defects, and so on. Your mother sees you as your dear child, your spouse sees you as a dear spouse, your enemy sees you as an evil intended individual, etc.
Negative people always see what is the most negative in others. Beautiful people always see the most beautiful traits in others. I have learned this on my own. Even if I knew this as a concept, I also lived it myself eventually and it was confirmed to me that is true. What people see when they look at you is their image in the mirror, as you are the one providing the mirror, through your personality.
According to the Talmud,
“We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.”
The past versions of you
People from your past know a version of you that no longer exists. Even if they live in the present time, when they remember things about you even for a second, they remember the person who you were in the past, when you interacted with them.
The perfect example is an ex-lover that you didn’t see for years.
You may be a completely different person today, compared to who you were two years ago. For example, an ex-lover who hasn’t seen you in the last two years may still think you are the same lazy person who he/she left. In the meantime, you learned from your mistakes and you evolved. Now you are a marathon champion, and if you didn’t make a post on social media about your champion title, your ex knows only that lazy version of you from the past.
The versions of you from the future
In the future, there will be as many versions of you as many you will become. You will surely improve, become a better person and each time you do this, another version of you will be seen from the exterior. This will be an improved version, thus a different one from the ones in the present and the past.
Let’s say that in the future you will quit your current job and you will choose to get married. The new you will be a married person with a better job and surely, a happier version of you.
Conclusion: Infinite reflections of “you”
Well, you can say that there are infinite versions of you, virtually. Why is that? Because every once in a while, you are changing in a way or the other. Also, at each moment people interact with you, they see a version of yourself according to their perceptions of reality. You are becoming better, or worse, depending on your choices. It can happen in every fraction of a second, with every frame in the movie of your life. If you would count the number of different versions of “you” that exist, you probably would go towards the infinity.
How can anyone always see the real “you”?
If you want other people to see a version of you that is as close as possible to the one you truly are and that you desire to “show to the public”, you need to be sincere, communicative, sociable, and true to yourself and the others.
If you drop the masks, the true “you” will be seen. I am not talking about COVID 19 masks. I am talking about the layers of unrealness that we sometimes, even without our intention, cover ourselves with, in life, or on social media.
Try to become the best possible version of yourself! You owe this to the community, as you will become an example and a better ”mirror” for others to see their beauty or their flaws in yourself.
There are infinite possible versions of “you”, but there is also the best version out there in the universe. Try to find it and remember that there will always be someone who will see the exact opposite of the self-image you want to put out there because they see a reflection of them in you!
