My first insight into the feeling of being internally old occurred during adolescence.
I felt unusually different from the kids around me, somehow older, but ‘mature’ wasn’t exactly the right word.ย The best way I could describe it back then was as though I had lived hundreds of years of life which had been condensed into 16 years of time.
As the years went by, I encountered a few Old Souls who I shared my experiences with.ย I would talk about my insights and introduce them to the concept of Old Souls.ย One of these people was Luna.ย She was so excited about it that she eventually wrote the well-received article 9 Signs You’re An Old Soul as well as a subsequent Old Soul Book.
In my years of mentoring Old Souls and helping them through their spiritual development, I’ve witnessed a number of issues. I want to mention that it’s important to remember thatย having an Old Soul doesn’t necessarily equate to being ‘all-knowing’ or perfect.ย Rather, it’s an indication of the age of the energy known as your soul. With that being said, these are some of the biggest problems I’ve seen, and personally experienced:
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1#ย You’re a Social Outcast
As with anyone who perceives the world differently from others, Old Souls can experience a great (and unending) sense of isolation.ย Because they fail to fit into the standards that society admires and values (careers, materialism, status and so forth), they’re commonly seen as strange, offbeat and unconventional.
2#ย You’re the “Black Sheep”
While Old Souls can build many strong relationships with people, their penetrating ability to connect with the depths of the people in their lives can create many enemies.ย Seeing deeply into the core issues of the people around them, Old Souls feel an innate desire to be truthful, even if this means revealing uncomfortable truths such as the fact that many problems are caused by immaturity, or a failure to take responsibility.
Those who are willing to change will listen and like you, while the rest will feel great disdain towards you.ย This is why Old Souls often become the “devils advocates” or “black sheep” of their friends or family.
3#ย You Often Get Mislabeled
If there’s something we all love and are good at, it’s labeling people.ย We fool ourselves into thinking we can “know” someone by attributing a label to them.ย However, humans are far too complex to be boxed into a specific and unchanging group of people.ย In this case, Old Souls will often be given different labels, from “beatniks” to “hippies”, “anarchists” to “new age freaks“.
While you can’t fight labels, you can try to use them in a positive way.ย Labels can be used as signposts, as directions towards awareness of some quality many of us share.ย These qualities will be different in intensity and strength in each of us, but at least they will help us understand ourselves (and the people around us) a bit better.
This is partly why I called the Old Soul Group “I’m an Old Soul” – not so people can gain egotistical pride with such a label, but to create a sense of self-awareness, to allow people to better understand themselves.
4# You Speak an Entirely Different Language
Words are symbols we each load with our own unique definitions according to our own unique life experiences that are associated with each word.ย What I associate with love might be entirely different from what you associate with love.ย For example: When someone thinks about love, they might remember their old failed relationship and feel a terrible sense of vulnerability when the word arises, while others might associate love with loyalty and friendship.
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Old Souls realize this limitation, and therefore greatly struggle to express entirely what they want to say, knowing that it’s as though they are speaking an entirely different language from others.
5#ย You Are Prone to Intense Existential Crises
I have sometimes witnessed cases where Old energy is born into the body of a person who does not have the matching mental maturity to embrace it.ย This can result in depressions, substance abuse and existential crisis’s.
When a person realizes that everything is transitional and passing, life can become pointless.ย This person sees that our bodies are temporary vessels that don’t really matter, and without the ability to cultivate self-love, self-destructive habits can result.
In this case, it’s necessary to undergo intense spiritual-growth, to cultivate existential meaning and inner-understanding through inner work in order to learn how to embrace your soul.
6#ย You Easily Become Emotionally Drained
With the wisdom and patience that comes with being an Old Soul, there also comes others people’s desire to use you as a dumping ground for their emotions.ย I’ve experienced this a lot in my own life, often experiencing emotionally-charged conversations that last for hours at a time.ย Some Old Souls also double as Empaths, which can also take a great toll on your energy.
7#ย You’re Prone to Becoming Mentally Drained
In the search for truth, deeper understanding and inner exploration of yourself and the world around you, it is common for the Old Soul to experience a lot of mental fatigue.ย Double this with acting as a mediator between people and their problems, and you’ll end up exhausted at the end of the day.
#8ย You Struggle to Find a Kindred Spirit
If making friends who connect with you is difficult, finding a kindred spirit, soul mate, or life partner, can be even more of a challenge.ย It took me living in 6 different countries to find Luna.
But it’s not always as hard as that.ย Having the wisdom to discern the true depths of your connection with a person will be your greatest asset in the area of love.
#9ย You’re Crippled By Possibilities
As we grow in maturity our perception of possibilities and explanations expands: we see life from limitless angles.ย This means that we see more than one way of doing things which makes us unfailingly indecisive as we see the full expanse of possibilities, and the lack of absolutes. Although making decisions and judgments can be a crippling experience, this can double as a virtue, allowing us to understand that we can’t simply judge people by face value, and that they are the result of millions of internal and external influences.
#10ย You Yearn For a Place to Belong
For some Old Souls, the world feels alien.ย They find it hard to understand people, why such chaos and misery exists and how it is allowed, and sometimes encouraged, to continue. They long to find a place where they feel like they belong, a space filled with freedom and liberation.ย This often results in the feeling that this world is not their true home.
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Regardless of which of the above problems you may come across, these struggles will affect your life a lot less when you grow in inner understanding and acceptance.
The stronger your ability to channel and use the Old energy that is latent within you, the greater your capacity will be to aid in the continuation and evolution of your soul.
Please feel free to share your experiences below.
There was something almost mysterious about this woman. Her face had lots of wrinkles. These were the first things to catch your eye, but they didnโt make her look old. Instead, they emphasized a certain youthfulness in her that transcended age. The wrinkles belonged where they were, as if they had been part of her face since birth. When she smiled, the wrinkles smiled with her; when she frowned, the wrinkles frowned, too. And when she was neither smiling nor frowning, the wrinkles lay scattered over her face in a strangely warm, ironic way. ~ Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)
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It’s the first time somebody are really on it, I read a lot of those things 10 ways of … and bla bla bla. They are all in some way wrong, most of the time look like they do copy and paste of all the same propaganda. With all the bullshit that a soul need to evolve, fuck that. By definition a soul is, always was and always gonna be. To have the need to evolve one have to start lower and wanted to go higher thus meaning that somes soul are higher than other, that make no sense at all. I have all the 10 problems you mention and from a very early age, never wanted to become an aduld, they all look to me as a child so stupid,limited, blind, ignorant….But life hit me so hard, like a ton of bricks (my father too, but that’s another story). Feel like 100 at 20, and the feeling to understand peoples more than themself, like i have allready live everything that was possible on this limited stupid planet. As for today, i cannot go into large crowd, feel dirty and beurk from all the garbages i receive from those cockroachs we call human. Don’t get me wrong one person alone are not so bad, but if you add one more they became stupider and so on,and so on. It’s strange i feel like somekind of good by telling you all this, like somebody understand what i’m saying for once. Always feel like i’m born a thousand years too early . I read somewhere that you see the evolution of a society by the way they treat they olds and youngs, i will go further than that; humans never evolve only the technologies and the day that all kind of publicity cesse to exist all together, that’s the day we can say humans finally make a step forward. Enough about me, thanks a lot for that page men.
Recently, I embark on my spiritual journey after years of rejecting it because I wanted to be someone else. Now, I am an Old Soul in a Separation Phase of Twin Flame. I don’t know how to keep up, all I know is I feel so tired all the time because I am trying to understand my Soul Contract’s mission. I just wish I have someone to talk to me in daily basis because now, everything feels like new experience.
Sending you lots of love and lights! G.
Hello my dear,take heart,am an old soul too,all is well.you can contact me on +233549101330, thanks
when you don’t write about being an old soul…you just may be
you do not need to post on social media……..
Being an old soul is mostly a pain in the ass. I would not wish this on anyone. But I cannot avoid it, and if you are an old soul neither can you. I devoutly hope that after this life I never have to be reincarnated again.
If you’re unhappy being an old soul then you WILL reincarnate over and over again until you realize what your mission is on this planet. HINT: it is NOT to try and fit in with society and be a complainer! Enjoy!
I was always told I was an old soul. And have always felt it. My interests are childlike, because that is the only pure joy in this world, I feel. Painting, coloring, games ect. Feeling like I dobt belong. Seeing the people of this world and asking “how?” And “why?”. Just wishing everyone could just see just below the surface and realize why their problems are not something to be so intensely crippled by. That it’s okay. That you dont need to force belonging. It finds you. Or you find it, but without force of any kind.
Everytime I try to explain this, when someone comes to me with a problem, it falls on deft ears. And I in return get a strange look like “ha, okay buddha”… no I’m not buddha, I’m not your mom, or idol, or hero. I’m a fellow human sharing kindness. That is all. All I wish is for you to digest that kindness and hopefully pass it on…. I dont know. Life is weird. And hard. I’m just trying to be my best self. And that means perfectly balancing selfishness and selflessness. But it is so hard sometimes when people just think I’m an idiot or the quiet one. Or the weird one. And dont think I’m worth listening to.
Sorry for spelling errors. I word vomited all that out and didnt want to ruin it by editing
Isabella, I feel your pain! and frustration. I have a similar experience, people seem to gravitate to me seeking answers, then when I explain what seems to be obvious to me they don’t understand . .. there is nothing for us to do, we have the give & the curse of being Old Souls, and most of the younger souls just cannot understand, they may have many lifetimes to live yet before they do, so don’t beat up on yourself, Do what you can, then let it go. Don’t try too hard to be your best self, just let it be, you don’t need to try to strike a perfect balance between selfishness and selflessness or anything else, perfect balances are impossible!
One morning walking out of the courthouse in Sacramento the Spirits gave me an epiphany, that 99% of the law is just variations on the theme of the Golden Rule, treat others as you wish to be treated, do not do to another what you do not want done to yourself, be fair, be honest, the law tries to encourage us to do that and punish us if we don’t; and it’s not just the law of the State of California, its the essence of the Karmic law. Everything good flows form that one simple idea.
We can’t fix them, maybe sometimes we can help them a bit, but not too much, their struggles are struggles only they can live and learn from, you and I have probably lived many lives before this one, they’re much younger, perhaps many lifetimes younger, nothing we can do about that. I’ve learned (the hard way!) not to let myself get too tangled up helping other people out of their messes unless they’re 100% ready to help themselves too. Most of the time they’re not.
If you’ve never done a past life regression with a hypnotist, I recommend it, it gives you a whole bigger perspective when you see bits and pieces of lives you’ve lived perhaps hundreds or thousands of years ago, it’s not easy; it can be a very emotionally traumatic experience, most of our past lives were hard lives, were probably weren’t living in fairy tale castle. But it gives you a whole different kind of perspective when you feel, you know, I’ve been here many times before, I’ll probably be here again, and again, until I’m ready to end the cycle of reincarnation and flow back into the Great Spirit from whence we came.
Being alone is a very good thing
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Hi there! I want to ask if there, by any chance, is any chat for people like us. I am 31 y.o. woman from Slovakia and I felt lonely and deeply depressed almost every single day of these 31 years (my first memories are of me as a 3-year-old child who feels sad, lonely and too old). Not even one of my partners could get close to me mentally or emotionally. I’m not closing myself, not at all. I am artist and thank to my job I meet hundreds and hundreds of new people every year but I have never met anyone like me. Actually nobody knows how much I suffer inside. People think I am perfectly fine and content with my life. How could I even complain if there’s nothing “visibly” wrong with me. Please, help! I am sooo tired of this life…. I can’t take it anymore…
Hi, Susan, Iโm a teenager and I totally understand what you are going through. I remember being 6 years old and continuously asking myself existential questions, being 9 years old and feeling dead and depressed inside, etc. Now I am happy: I find a lot of joy being alone in nature, praying, helping people, writing poems and just living in the moment. Iโm grateful for everything and I often wonder why Iโm feeling so awesome. I totally know how it is to have โeverythingโ in life but still find it unbearable because something is missing within you: I was like that at 9 years old. Sooner or later it gets better. Anyways, Iโm sure there are lots of people like you, only that they arenโt revealing the depths of who they are. I also thought I was the only one until I met a few people who understood me and whom I could connect with. I hope youโll as well be blessed with such people in your life. Love from Canada. :)
Susan, you are an Old Soul Artist, my condolences! You speak other languages that very few people can even begin to understand, it’s our curse. I’m a musician, singer, songwriter, poet, I know maybe half a dozen people in the world who “get it” and they’re all very good songwriters and most of them 10, 20 years older than my and dying off, it’s a gift, and every gift is also a curse. But as an artist you have been given a gift of beauty to give to the world, this is your destiny in this life, your fate, your mission.
My mother was growing old, Christmas was coming, I was thinking, What can I give here? She doesn’t need anything. So I put together a booklet of twelve of my poems I thought she’d like, and I try to write very plainly, they’re mostly stories, so anyone (I think) will understand, and gave it to her for Christmas. She took it from me, went to the dining table, flipped through it, pushed it to the center of the table, came back and never mentioned it; after she died and we cleaned out the house I never found it, I think she threw it away, not out of malice, she just didn’t understand.
WOW! ” She took it from me, went to the dining table, flipped through it, pushed it to the center of the table, came back and never mentioned it; ”
It sounds like she was the Typical Narcissist.
Don’t blame yourself, and dont regret the way God create you its a Gift you have to accept it. All you have to do is to know yourself better which will help you understand how to live better. Please if you fill lonely iIam your partner just come to me.
Hello susan,am Emma from Ghana,am deeply move by the state of your depression, although we are far from each other i think we can still connect,am an old soul myself but i took time and still taking time to work on my spiritual life so as to escape being depressed since i find it hard to relate.you can reach me on +233549101330,thank you,stay strong
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Thank you Dinah. Regarding the RSS, we don’t have it enabled as it’s not used by most people anymore. You might want to subscribe instead to our newsletters.
Hello
My name is Niamh ,
I have very much identified with this information , I have been reading and looking into a lot of this kind of thing as I always felt very different from a very young age.
I am always searching and learning.
I very much enjoy being alone however sometimes I want to be out with people but when I come home I feel better,
I have a partner and a daughter who are also very much this way.
sometimes it is hard as we experience different things at different times and its hard for us to understand.
I have great gratitude but sometimes I have the opposite , its like a rollercoaster .
I always feel like no one understands so I don’t say anything anymore I just try to deal with it myself ,
thankyou for reading
I am an old soul who is having a very hard time in this world
With 5 6 8 and 10
But still some how I know I’ll make it I’m 29 and I just don’t wish to be here any longer but I have to to take care of my 7year old boy… n watch my friends who truly are my family… a mate i fear I’ll never find… this world is full of children to me… me ex wife was so cruel to this old soul guy then I thought I found this beautiful 50year old woman but shes more busy in life than me…so idk I’m living one day at a time right now…