Solitary, philosophical and wise beyond their years, the Old Soul, just like any social oddity, tend to be mislabeled, and misunderstood by a society that fails to see the beauty of its own kind.
Walking through life feeling like an outsider looking in, the Old Soul can find his matured temperament and outlook on life questioned and criticized.
This article will explore 6 common ‘myths’ associated with the Old Soul temperament, in hopes of broadening the understanding of popular, but misguided perceptions.
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For more information on Old Souls, and whether you’re one or not, see this Old Soul article.
6 Myths About Old Souls
Here are 6 major misconceptions about Old Souls:
Myth #1: Old Souls are lazy deadbeats.
Truth: We long for simple and uncomplicated lives.
Many Old Souls don’t see eye to eye with society. Wealth, material possessions and social statuses have no importance or allure to the Old Soul because they are seen as transient and momentarily fulfilling.
Why waste time complicating life with academic degrees, workplace competition and continuous debt when life can be lived simply and calmly? This is why many Old Souls opt to work in unimportant, low-paying jobs, or decide not to work at all.
If money is the root of all evil, why let your life revolve around it? In this situation, the Old Soul prefers to sit back, relax and smell the roses of life.
Myth #2: Old Souls are asocial misanthropes.
Truth: We tend to be quiet and solitary.
As pointed out in my other Old Soul article, many Old Souls tend to be solitary and/or loners by nature. Understandably, this character quirk can be perceived very negatively by a society that values social stimulation and extroversion.
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Old Souls tend to prefer their own company because only in solitude can they come to think their best thoughts, write their best works, and create their best creations. It is the Old Souls thirst for spiritual self-actualization that fuels their need to be alone.
People, often, can become distractions and hang-ups on their inner quests for meaning and fulfillment.
Myth #3: Old Souls are pretentious know-it-alls.
Truth: We were born with a matured perspective of life.
Young Old Souls, in particular, are met with a lot of judgment when they stay true to their authentic selves.
What person, especially middle-aged or old, wants to listen to a kooky looking young man or woman talking about the meaning of life. Especially if they’re dressed in what appears to be their grandparents clothing!
Understandably, many young Old Souls are measured against what is “normal” for their age, and end up falling short of societal expectations. Thus come negative perceptions that Old Souls are “affected”, “artificial” or “conceited”.
Myth #4: Old Souls are mentally defective.
Truth: We like taking our time to do things properly.
I thank Facebook’s Old Soul Group for sharing their experiences which inspired this myth.
These experiences, as well as my own, have shown that Old Souls as a whole tend to be very meticulous. Their sensitivity and care for the world tends to make them take extra time to complete tasks.
Old Souls show their care and commitment by the amount of time they invest in people and projects. Unfortunately, this can make them “slow” in the workplace, making them seem inept and unintelligent compared to their faster-paced colleagues.
Myth #5: “Old Soul” is a word made up by insecure or arrogant people trying to be unique.
Truth: “Old Soul” is a word used to describe the feeling of being old in mind and heart.
Understandably, there are a few skeptics that try to rationalize “how can you measure the age of a soul? This stuff is mumbo-jumbo“.
Regardless of whether you believe in the reincarnation Soul Age theory linked with this group of people, being an Old Soul is specifically and exclusively a feeling felt by different groups of individuals. This feeling, which can’t be effectively analyzed by the conscious mind, is a subconscious sensation of “just knowing things”, “having been here before”, and “feeling matured and mentally aged”.
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Old Souls don’t feel that they’re any better than other people, nor do they necessarily feel insecure. The term is simply used to describe what they feel inside.
Myth #6: Old Souls are aloof and cold.
Truth: We tend to have a detached, yet sensitive outlook on life.
If all things are passing – good and bad, people and possessions – what’s the point of becoming too attached to anything?
Many friends, lovers and family members are surprised by the Old Soul’s disconnection from the cares of the world. Understandably, this can be unsettling, even a little upsetting for some. However, the Old Soul still maintains a sensitivity that few understand, and often display traits that can be linked to the Empath.
Still, the Old Soul, a perpetual observer of life, tends to have a “been there, done that” mentality, that many, including even the Old Soul himself, finds puzzling. Backstabbing, gossiping, fighting, as well as addictions, money issues and other day to day problems rarely affect Old Souls.
As physical existence begins to lose its charm, the Old Soul faces deeper existential problems. This, perhaps, is why the Old Soul often feels world-wary and tired.
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If you’re interested in finding out more about Old Souls, why not take our Old Soul Test to find out how old is your soul?
Please feel free to share any thoughts or opinions you have below!
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I am an old soul I took the tests well, a lot of tests. I love and always have loved learning new things. I have been told many times that I am different and an old soul. I also love to research. I have always loved history and I love animals. And feel like I have gone through more than I have in this life, which is saying a lot. But, I am now 12 turning 13.
Before I was born my grandma told me that I was an old soul that I have been here on this earth before and I look at myself now after reading this and taking the test and realize I am an old soul I’m not really into rap or any of that stuff just listen to it so I can fit in with this generation but I’ve always loved old 70’s hippie music like stuff from wood stock and I see myself being a hippie back then and living in Colorado I never lived in Colorado but I was close by it in a little town in Farmington nm and my mom and I used to go to Colorado every weeknd and walk through the parks and walk along the river and check out stores and go camping I feel like Colorado is my home and honestly everything that this article said about old souls I can’t see a difference when looking at how I act and the way I do things in life so I guess I most be one and I’ve been going through some hard times lately and I feel more lonely than I ever have I’m… Read more »
I knew that I was different to others when I was 16…. I used to love watching old 60’s TV series and listening to the film soundtracks and music pieces from great artists back then. Out of the hundreds of students at my school then no one would listen to that kind of music as they all followed the young trend, Although I was quite sociable and spending time with friends back then… Away from them I was just so different and would really feel alone but content even if I ventured off the rown… I knew I would never ever want kids and now 11 years later I’m still 100% sure and still feel just as strong as I did back then… As I approached 23 I completely lost pretty much all my friends… My social days were all of the past… And I became a complete loner.. born on the 22nd October I decided to look into astrology and surprise surprise my day of the year is the only day of 365 days that labels me as a natural loner…. I started to feel sad months later in the fact everyone had friends to see, places to go… Read more »
First off, thank you very much for the time and effort, you both place into helping others to find who “they” are. I did however, want to add my thoughts, should they assist another in finding who “they” are. To me, as with all walks of life, souls pass by, at different stages of learning. What is learned, is never lost. This includes for some; lessons which revolve around, and include abundance. In business, profit isn’t a dirty wourd. In life, abundance isn’t a dirty word either. Nor is external rank or ambition. It is how they are used. Like everything in life; balance includes all aspects, not just the ones that allow us to feel righteous. If you haven’t learned power, abundance, integrity, loyalty and truth; balance is difficult, because they are core. To “me”. Others may walk beside me, in the same lessons of life. I wanted to ensure my thoughts on this are available for consideration. Look at the world. It needs leadership. To control leadership, and remain in balance; I would assume that you should have the external advantages of rank and power in check; and in order. BUT, how can you; if you have never… Read more »
The first time i was labelled an old soul was by my psychologist but i never knew what that meant till now. The feeling of being different and alone haunted me as an old soul but now i know the reason and i feel better
Well, being an old soul, I never cared much for attending school. I just wasn’t interested in it enough and I certainly was never career oriented. I mostly knew from a young age that I wanted a very simple life and to raise a family and just be happy. One of the hardest things about this soul age is that people don’t take you seriously when you have no degree or a ton of friends to show for yourself. They think you are somehow wasting your life or even worse, that you are BORING. This makes me so sad because it has been incredibly isolating and I have only been able to connect with one other person so far and that is my husband. I think it has to do with my energy, which maybe seems slower than most people my age (24). They don’t understand me and always look at me like I have three heads or something….erg. Maybe I do. ;/
As always great information here! :)
My name is Jason. I think this is great. Took your test and scored 90%. To be honest I’m not sure if I believe in the whole ideology of different soul ages, however the general behavior patterns and thought processes described as old soul traits as well as alot of the experiences shared by others proclaiming to be old souls closely mirror alot of things about myself. So at the very least it is an interesting concept worth exploring more. Thankyou for the website.
Can an old soul try to become younger (e.g. part of yourself try to “regain” youth, tho you’ve always known you’re older beyond the years)?
Ever since I can remember (and I have memories before I was 4 yrs old) I felt I was an old soul, but sometimes it feels there’s a battle within my soul to “regain a lost youth” if you will… leaving me with a feeling of not belonging neither here nor there…..
Hi Luna :), I’m thirteen, going to be fourteen in January. And I most likely shouldn’t be reading your site but I just had to know what I was instead of different. I’ve known I was something (old soul) since I was young and people have always mistaken me for “sassy” or “weird” even “disrespectful.” All because I have different views on what is right and what isn’t. My problem is my anger and I’ve been dealing with it for forever and I’ve inherited from both of my parents. Over time it’s gotten better and I’ve learned how to control it, but I feel like I can’t be at my full potential if I can get angry in a snap. It used to be one little thing and I’ll get upset, now it’s gotten better and I’m much more calm. Do you have any meditation tips or maybe even prayers? Anything helps
Thanks, this post on Old Souls is very interesting. Helped me understand why I was the child in the playground often watching other kids play, enjoying their child like enthusiasm, but only joining in when I chose to. I’ve always been as much the observer of others as the participant, not really from shyness or social awkwardness, merely from choice. It took me a long time to understand how I operated was ok.