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9 Signs You’re An Old Soul

 

9 Signs Youre An Old Soul

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?” ~ Satchel Paige

There is a special kind of person in our world who finds himself alone and isolated, almost since birth.

His solitary existence isn’t from a preference or an antisocial temperament – he is simply old.  Old in heart, old in mind and old in soul, this person is an old soul who finds his outlook on life vastly different and more matured than those around him.  As a result, the old soul lives his life internally, walking his own solitary path while the rest around him flock to follow another.  Perhaps you’ve experienced this in your own life, or have witnessed it in another person?  If so, this article is dedicated to you, in hopes that you will come to define yourself, or understand another better.

The “Old Soul”

Robert Frost, Eckhart Tolle and even Nick Jonas have been called them.  Perhaps even you have?  I did.  Like many of them, this self discovery was made upon meeting Sol, who told me about his childhood as a precocious, intelligent boy who would befriend the teachers instead of the students, just because they were too different from him.  As he related his inability to find interest in and connection to the people his age, I discovered that I felt the same, and still do.

If you have not yet discovered whether you’re an old soul, read some of the revealing signs below.

9 Signs You’re An Old Soul

 1#   You tend to be a solitary loner.

Because old souls are disinterested in the pursuits and interests of the people in their age groups, they find it dissatisfying to make friends with people they find it hard to relate to.  The result is … old souls tend to find themselves alone a lot of the time.  People just don’t cut it for them.

2#   You love knowledge, wisdom and truth.

9 Signs Youre An Old Soul

Yep … this seems a little grandiose and overly noble, but the old soul finds himself naturally gravitating towards the intellectual side of life.  Old souls inherently understand that knowledge is power, wisdom is happiness and truth is freedom, so why not seek after those things?  These pursuits are more meaningful to them than reading up on the latest gossip about Snooki’s latest boyfriend, or the latest football scores.

3#   You’re spiritually inclined.

More emotional old souls tend to have sensitive and spiritual natures.  Overcoming the confines of the ego, seeking enlightenment and fostering love and peace are the main pursuits of these young-in-body Mother Teresa’s.  To them it seems the wisest, most fulfilling use of time.




9 Signs Youre An Old Soul

4#   You understand the transience of life. 

Old souls are frequently plagued with reminders of not only their own mortality, but that of everything and everyone around them.  This makes the old soul wary and at times withdrawn, but wisely dictates the way they live their lives.

5#   You’re thoughtful and introspective.

Old souls tend to think a lot … about everything.  Their ability to reflect and learn from their actions and those of others is their greatest teacher in life.  One reason why old souls feel so old at heart is because they have learnt so many lessons through their own thought processes, and possess so much insight into life situations from their ability to quietly and carefully observe what if going on around them.

6#   You see the bigger picture. 9 Signs Youre An Old Soul

Rarely do old souls get lost in the superficial details of getting useless degrees, job promotions, boob jobs and bigger TV’s.  Old souls have the tendency to look at life from a birds eye view, seeing what is the most wise and meaningful way to approach life.  When confronted with issues, old souls tend to see them as temporary and passing pains that merely serve to increase the amount of joy felt in the future.  Consequently, old souls tend to have placid, stable natures as a result of their approach to life.

7#   You aren’t materialistic.

Wealth, status, fame, and the latest version of iPhone … they just bore old souls.  The old soul doesn’t see the purpose of pursuing things that can be easily taken away from them.  Additionally, old souls have little time and interest for the short-lived things in life, as they bring little meaning or long lasting fulfillment for them.

8#   You were a strange, socially maladaptive kid.9 Signs Youre An Old Soul

This is not always the case, but many old souls exhibit odd signs of maturity at young ages.  Often, these children are labelled as being “precocious”, “introverted”, or “rebellious“, failing to fit into the mainstream behaviors.  Usually, these children are extremely inquisitive and intelligent, seeing the purposelessness of many things their teachers, parents and peers say and so, and either passively or aggressively resisting them.  If you can talk to your child like he/she’s an adult – you’ve probably got an old soul on your hands.

9#   You just “feel” old.

Before putting a name to what I felt, I experienced certain sensations of simply being an “old person” inside.  The feelings that accompany being an old soul are usually: a feeling of world wariness, mental tiredness, watchful patience, and detached calmness.

 

Just as some old people describe themselves as being “young at heart”, so too can young people be “old at heart”.

Are you an old soul?  I’d love to hear your stories below.

Why not join a group for fellow old souls on Facebook right here ?

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    About Luna

    If Morticia Addams had a child with Napoleon Dynamite, I would probably be it. A librarian by trade, when people ask me where the self help section is, I explain to them that it would defeat the purpose to tell them. After accustoming myself to the strain of excessive social interaction, I tend to run to the most deserted corner of the room to bacteria gel my hands. I aspire to inspire. I'm a Leo, Type O positive, INFJ, Type 4 Romantic, and if I was reincarnated ... I would probably be a hairless cat.

    • http://www.facebook.com/benlast Ben Last

      I think you’ve identified a number of signs that one is an thoughtful, intellectual introvert and loner, but I’m not sure they form a cohesive set of attributes. I can think of non-spiritual “old souls” for example. One can be rational/skeptical and also have many of those characteristics.

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        Thanks for your opinions Ben. I would say that the example you gave of the rational/skeptical Old Soul, could easily fit into the #5 sign, as thoughtfulness also implies critical thought. These signs are by no means exhaustive they’re simply a culmination of the research I’ve done on the topic (the descriptions people gave in forums and so forth), and the experiences I’ve had as well.

        The only way to discover the cause (of being an Old Soul) is to first examine the symptoms. Any doctor would tell you that a certain list of symptoms can match a variety of states. It is up to the knowing eye to observe these symptoms and determine whether they are congruent with the experience of being an Old Soul, or not.
        :)

    • Tiffany LaDise

      I’m must be a very old soul because I’m ALL of these! XD

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        You must be Tiffany :) I wonder if there’s an Old Soul spectrum … Thanks for reading!

    • Jostein the Norwegian, 24

      I wasn’t THAT weird as a kid, and I care a little about material things, but I honestly feel like an old soul. Most of the points above are very familiar, so thanks for this! Is it usual for old souls to be childish? I’m INTJ by the way, but sometimes feel like INFJ.

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        It seems that many intuitive feelers and thinkers feel old. Good question Jostein :) From what I’ve experienced, old souls live in a kind of paradoxical way – on one hand they feel very old inside, and on the other they’ve usually reached a state where they realize that there isn’t much to worry about, which can make them behave in childish ways (just think of the old soul Rumi the poet, and the childish way he would behave, although his words were filled with wisdom and insight). I don’t know about you, but I’d much prefer to play with a child rather than hang out with people around the same age as me. There seems to be a greater affinity between the child and the old soul, than the old soul and his peers, perhaps because they both see the world in a clearer way than the people around them?
        Thanks for reading ;)

    • Anna

      Good article, describes me almost perfectly, except I’m not very spiritually inclined. Haha. I was a bit strange as a kid, but perfectly sure I am an old soul since I was a teenager. At age 13, my concern was not about first love or hang out with friends. I thought a lot about philosophy, the meaning of life and death, etc..
      I am a cancer, type A positive, also an INFJ (sometimes INTJ), and type 4 romantic+type 7 adventurer (equal scores, but I think I am more inclined towards the type 4).

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        Thanks very much Anna :) Nice to know there are so many INFJ/INTJ’s coming here, sounds like we could almost be identical twins (at least personality type wise)! You must have felt quite isolated and strange thinking about such weighty things, while everyone around you was contemplating how to get into the back seat of the car with their crushes, haha :P I know I felt that way, and still do, especially when observing the daily going ons of life, it’s as though there’s a little old woman trapped inside. Thanks for sharing ;)

    • Tiffany M.

      Terrific post. You pretty much described me completely. I’m Type 4, Virgo, INFJ, Type A. Great to know there are others who are out there who are just like me :-)

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        I’m happy that you could connect with other people like you Tiffany :) It’s such a delight to know that you’re not alone in your supposed weirdness sometimes. Thanks for reading ;)

    • painislove

      Its really hard being an old soul. Sometimes you just don’t feel like caring about anything. At the worst times old souls can fall into depression. I’m most at peace when I’m sitting outside alone without any distractions from other people. I wish I could just live on a mountaintop watching the sky and the valleys around me all day and not have to think about anything. Having to work a boring job or study something intrinsically useless just to make a living or to survive just sucks. I’m in my mid-twenties and have no idea what to do in life, only that I don’t want to be a part of the young soul rat race competing for everything from money to jobs to respect from others. I recommend more reading from the Micheal teachings site if you guys want to know more about the concept of soul age. It provides more information about soul ages and insights. http://www.michaelteachings.com/

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        Painislove, your post struck me deeply – it reminds me so much of myself, especially the part where you described the most peace you feel is sitting outside alone, watching nature. Once you see through the fallacies of society’s games it makes you wonder what is really worth pursuing in your life. Being an Old Soul can make you feel extremely alone, especially when what means so much to other people doesn’t mean a thing to you. I really empathize with you painislove, and I hope you manage to find your place in life (and think outside of the usual “box” people operate in). Thanks for the link as well :)

    • http://YJohnD.com/ YJohnD

      Hi, just came across the site (you guys create some quality articles!) and this article really resonated with me. Often times I look at what people my age do, or are interested in, and find myself sighing and shaking my head at the inanity of it. I usually think to myself, in a somewhat ironic somewhat sarcastic way, that I’m too old.

      This article reminded me of a conversation I had back when I was in the 4th Grade. During recess (it wasn’t technically recess but more of a “go run around outside” time without any equipment) my class was walking around a school playground and I was walking alongside my teacher. I don’t remember what prompted it, but during the walk I said to my teacher “Why do people spend so much money on expensive cars? I mean all cars do the same thing and that’s to take people from place to place. Spending so much money to get fancy cars seems like a waste when you can get a much cheaper car to do the same thing. It doesn’t make any sense.” Such a precocious little scamp! Back then it was relaxing and easy to converse with adults. Needless to say I was regarded as a reserved kid, but looking back now I imagine that not being able to talk about what I found interesting with my peers was a big part of that. Eventually I learned how to ‘act like an idiot’ during middle school as a reverse way to let other people drop their guard around me but it was never fulfilling.

      Of course that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy my own fair share of society’s trivialities, which I’m ashamed that I do, and I do oh so love ‘stupid’ jokes and the like, but overall I’ve kept a consistent,almost weary outlook on life.

      As an end to my self-flattery, I’m curious (article suggestion) as to what you guys think about the relationship between introverts (loners, socially anxious types, or what have you) and the relatively new internet phenomenon of social media (facebook, twitter, etc.). Can introverts thrive unabated in a social media environment, or is it their natural enemy?

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        I really appreciate your comment YJohnD.

        One of the greatest rewards in writing articles like these is to connect with like-minded people, and ironically not feel so lonely. So thanks for sharing some of your story and outlook with me!

        A lot of what you’ve written reminds me of my own time back in childhood. Lately I’ve even experimented with going to nightclubs and other “people my age” things, just to get a feel of what the experience is like. Nightclubs, I learnt, are loud, overly crowded places, with the unbearably overhanging smell of alcohol in the air, along with sweat and hormones. But they do serve their own purpose. It’s funny how much of an outsider you can feel surrounded by people your age (acting out their primal, primitive urges) and even just talking to them.

        But it was good to first experience something I judged harshly was like and add another well-rounded dimension to my life.

        Thanks for your question. This is a really interesting one! From what I’ve observed and in my own personal experience social media is something very bitter sweet to introverts. It’s sweet, on one hand, because it allows us to say what we like, do what we like, and be who we want to be in an unrestrained way. If we want to be opinionated and outspoken on the internet with loads of witty things to say, we have the perfect place to do that. Who’s there to stand and criticize us to our faces, or judge us? Social media takes the edge away from socializing, and it gives us unlimited freedom to be who we truly feel we are. On the other hand, the internet is bitter because many of us who have jumped on the social-bandwagon have become extremely tired sooner or later. We can no longer keep up with the thousands of friends our fellow pals on the internet have, and we can no longer stand the repetitious inanity we read every day. Not only that, but many introverts who join social media sites like facebook, twitter, etc. become disgusted sooner or later at the ingenuine nature of their friendships. In the end, whether introverts can thrive or not in a social media environment is all up to context, and what stage they are in their lives. Personally, I quit many social media sites because I was letting them suck away my solitude. I’m not sure how it is for you.

        Thanks for reading and I look forward to any other thoughts you may like to share. :)

        • http://YJohnD.com/ YJohnD

          Haha, I definitely understand your sentiments on nightclubs. It’s just one of those many things, that just isn’t our thing.

          I also came to similar conclusions on your thoughts on social media’s capability to be both a beneficence to introverts as well as a form of burden and boring, predictable repetition. I didn’t say anything about myself and social media because I wanted to see what you thought without the intended or unintended influence of my own position, but I’ve avoided them like the plague, in general. For years I’ve refused to get a facebook account for reasons including, but not limited to, my introversion. Because I can sometimes come off as extroverted, depending on the situation and the company I’m keeping at the time, and because of modern society’s rising expectations of social media participation, I’ve been asked a few times (more than I’d appreciate) to add or be added on facebook. When I say I don’t have one the usual response is one of confusion and disbelief. Once someone said to me, jokingly, “You don’t have a facebook? Then who ARE you?”, insinuating a lack of facebook= a lack of existence. Of course I laughed with them, but couldn’t help but feel a nagging sense of disgust and sadness that such a statement can even be proffered as a joke.

          For about a month now I sort of started using facebook, mostly by actually creating one and putting up a recent picture for my old high school friends and sharing a total of about 3 things on it. I’m very likely going to close and try to delete my facebook account in the near future. Mirroring your sentiments that the internet (or the general written word) allows us to speak the way we want, I find that I’m far more serious and ‘proper’ than in person. An old friend of mine was so taken off guard by the fact that I have expressed an interest in writing “for fun” that they exclaimed, once more jokingly, “I don’t know who you are anymore!”. It’s interesting how much of what we say and do, especially our jokes, reveals much of us. In person I tend to be easy-going, joking, friendly, and buffoonish but in words I can come across as overtly serious.

          But that’s what I feel the beauty of writing is (especially for introverts), we are able to express ourselves in our truest sense while in person we may feel obliged to fall in line with society’s expectations. For me, I feel like a jester behind a mask while I’m out and about, and a grave, misunderstood, and bitter and sad soul when the mask is taken off.

          There’s a type of beauty (imaginative) to be found in our, now ever decreasing, privacy. The little we knew of each other inspires grand thought and reverence for one another, but social media such as facebook forcefully reveals that people are a terribly pitiful race. It’s sad to me the need to tell all about nothing. It really ruins our individuality and uniqueness and I really liked that faux beauty I once cherished in others.

          Anyways, thanks for the reply! I intended to keep this very brief, but whenever I get “set off” I always feel the need to say everything I’d like.

          • http://YJohnD.com/ YJohnD

            ^My goodness. I did quite the opposite of making a brief “thanks for the reply” reply. I’ve really got to work on that.

            • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

              Thanks for your thoughts YJohnD :)

              If only there could be more people in the world who had the same sort of insightful conversations as people like you. But then, I can see the truth in ying and yang. There’s always some good in bad and bad in good, and the negative very often highlights to positive, that is, all the brilliant, deep and thoughtful people in the world are thought of that way when contrasted with the animalistic, shallow and thoughtless people in the world. I know that sounds like a harsh way of putting it, but sometimes you need to be harsh to get your point across.

              Many old souls wear socially acceptable masks to get through daily life, and it’s a lot harder when you’re younger to let the “inner you” shine through, especially when your peers expect you to do one thing when you feel like doing the other. I guess the good news then is that everything improves with age! Or … you can decide to be the weird guy who wants to be a mystical shaman. :) How often we wear a mask is really determined by how much we desire to please other people and be accepted.

              Anyway, I really love hearing the thoughts and experiences of other old souls … so thanks for taking the time to share them! I’m sure everyone else here appreciates it as well ;)

            • http://YJohnD.com/ YJohnD

              :)

    • Tyler

      This article describes me perfectly, I have always felt different than my peers. Upon discovering your website I have learned why, thank you. But living as an introvert and old soul in high school is interesting, I have had experiences, that other people my age find fun, but to me they are not. Dances, they are not fun because to me I have a certain bubble around me, being as I am already not a social person, their invasion of that space is extremely uncomfortable.

      When I was younger people always said how I was more mature than other children, I didn’t complain about materialistic things as a child would. I have always maintained a different viewpoint on life than others, when you see boring old nature, I see a complex structure of a whole new world. When others are enjoying their massive new iPhone, I see a waste of $300 a month on a phone bill, when mine does the same for 5% the cost.

      • http://lonerwolf.com/ Luna

        Tyler, it can be such a challenging thing to go through high school as an old soul. On one hand you feel alienated, but on the other people can appreciate you for being the quiet, level-headed person who brings a mature and calming presence to the crowd. It’s interesting how many times I’ve read fellow old soul’s adopting a mask to get through these kind of life circumstances, and if you haven’t already I’m intrigued! I’ve always wondered whether it’s possible to go through certain places, like high school, completely without wearing a mask.

        My hope is that, if you haven’t already, you can eventually find a similar soul who appreciates your depth. Thanks very much for reading and sharing your experience.