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ยป Home ยป Starting The Journey

10 Universal Problems Old Souls Experience

by Mateo Sol ยท Updated: Jul 8, 2023 ยท 280 Comments

Image of an old soul woman in a forest holding an owl

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 didnโ€™t 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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About Mateo Sol

Mateo Sol is a spiritual educator, guide, entrepreneur, and co-founder of one of the most influential and widely read spiritual websites on the internet. Born into a family with a history of drug addiction and mental illness, he was taught about the plight of the human condition from a young age. His mission is to help others experience freedom, wholeness, and peace in all stages of life. [Read More]

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  1. Lucas says

    July 28, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    “—cases where Old energy is born into the body of a person who does not have the matching mental maturity to embrace it. This can result in depressions, substance abuse and existential crisis’s.”

    I do wonder if this is the case with me. I am in my 20s, yet I feel like I’ve lived hundreds of years. I feel very tired. Even as a small kid, I had trouble just playing with other kids, as I always felt somehow it would be “inappropiate” for me to do so, as if I was an adult in a kid’s body. I could never relate well to people my age. I spoke mostly to adults, all the way through highschool and college; I have never been able to experience a meaningful, long lasting friendship- something I crave more than any sort of romantic relationship. I am intellectually oriented and easily drained of energy by social situations. I desperately need nature, peace and quiet.

    On the other hand, my mind is constantly torturing me with existential pondering; I have suffered depression and terrible anxiety crisis, in which I worry about the pointlessness of existence and (my greatest fear), the idea that we completely cease to exist after death. I have often thought that if it wasnยดt for this fear, I would’ve commited suicide a long time ago, because honestly, I just feel like I want to go to sleep. I suposse that, if you think about it, dreamless sleep wouldnยดt be much different from a state of unconsciousness after death, but still, the thought of losing my self terrifies me.

    Based on this, I assume that I am too attached to the ego/individual to be an old soul, despite being called this by several people over the years.

    Reply
  2. Swati Bohra says

    July 20, 2015 at 11:48 pm

    Hi. I have been searching for things since a while. I have people in my family who believe in such things and guide. I have been lonely, isolated and alone all my life. I continuously try to fit in, but I cant. I want to win in competitive situations, but they are always a heavy toll on me. But now, it has become impossible, I am majorly stuck. Some days all fine, happy and breathing and the next its as heavy as breathing in a casket, while still alive. I have no job, no working inspiration. Please help me.

    Reply
  3. Janniel says

    July 11, 2015 at 1:49 am

    Thank you for creating this website. I haven’t seen all you have to offer yet, but it does feel like home here.

    I took the Soul Age test and got 86%…that didn’t surprise me a lot. But, in reading the “problems of old souls” page, I was surprised. Most of the the things that I haven’t liked about myself are listed. Being the Black Sheep, Mislabeled, and etc. The one that floored me tho’ was being “crippled by the possibilities”, that is something I struggle with just about every day.

    I’m finishing up my seventh decade, and I have pretty much stopped judging myself as harshly as I used to…still that part about possibilities, I’m not sure that I will outgrow my impatience with that part of my persona.

    And so I am shouting out to say “hey” and “wow!” and thank you!.

    Reply
  4. Wanda Oliveira says

    June 29, 2015 at 1:11 am

    Thank you for sharing your feelings. I am much older than you in this life and only a few years ago, after I became fluent in English and lived some time outside my country, I began to meet likeminded people. Although I couldn’t be able to find many in my country so far, it is heartwarming reading such a wonderful articles every so often.

    Reply
  5. dune says

    June 25, 2015 at 3:42 am

    Oh my god, this sounds familiar. This last year has been hard. Very lonely. Very confused. I literally felt that this world isn’t for me, that I’m not meant to be here. Went through a lot of pain, and it was my identity that was hurt more than anything. I didn’t know who I was. I lost some parts of it along the way. Others I had hidden. I grieved for bad choices, for time that was lost, for the times I betrayed myself. In order to deal with the pain I had to look closely and honestly. I accused myself, I defended myself. I accused the ones who wronged me. I defended the ones who wronged me. It wasn’t fun. But day after day, the pain started to go away. I’m now somehow thankful for all this emotional downward spiral. Without crisis there’s no catharsis.

    When I was a baby, some months old, my first reaction to strangers was to smile. A priest said that I’ll bring happiness to the people around me. I don’t think I did after all, but this smile may be hidden somewhere.. Maybe I knew something back then, more than now. Maybe I remembered some piece of information from another realm. Some information that was about how life is a fun game to play. Young souls, old souls, does it matter? I love the lightness of young souls, I don’t think I’m meant to be with someone “old”. I feel that now I need the lightness and simplicity because my everything is charged. I’d be totally happy if I found my soul mate and we had a wonderful family and spent simple but fulfilling experiences together. in addition, I’d love to explore myself more, under positive light this time. Hobbies, reading, contemplating, writing. Honestly, I don’t think I need something more.

    Excuse my english, but it’s not my native language.

    Reply
  6. Gisele says

    June 17, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    Wow thank you so much for this, it’s funny because I’m reading this at a time where I feel closer and closer to my old soul and remembering, and so many things have been happening lately like crazy that helps me see things in a different light. And when I read this I know exactly how all these reasons feel. I am 20 and I met my other half at age 15, the only guy I’ve been with but for some reason we have been inseparable since, it doesn’t even feel like its been 5 years together with him honestly. And we have been opening up so much easier and being more courageous the more time we spend with eachother, not only with eachother but with the people around us. For example I recently made some girl friends at this new job I work at, and I haven’t had close friends since I met my partner. So I was just being very open and I basically just put out all my trust to them for no reason and just felt this unconditional love for them as well as my boyfriend. They opened us to an extent they barely even understood but we felt ok with it because that’s what we’re comfortable with and they got very comfortable. Until one night out of no where they turned their backs to us as if we did something wrong and now when I see them they get nervous/look angry in a pathetic way because I don’t know why they would be angry with us. And then I realized that maybe they just got scared of the truth we were exposing and that they subconsciously were exposing too so they ran away as fast as they could because they weren’t ready to be loved in that way. They also got me fired from work, so well that’s what I recently went through. But in the end I still feel no grudge towards them, because I cannot really fathom the situation because of how much sense it doesn’t make to me. But I keep smiling, and I keep shining because why would you do anything else?

    Reply
  7. Burgess says

    June 12, 2015 at 12:15 am

    Thank you- I am finally gaining some understanding, through theses articles of what is been misunderstood, missing and “searching for an explanation” by me for years- thank you-

    Reply
  8. Eshu says

    June 09, 2015 at 6:34 am

    I got 10/10!!!! ha ha ha

    Reply
  9. Luuk says

    June 09, 2015 at 4:24 am

    Every number applies to me exept #10 I’m not sure yet..

    Reply
  10. Rana says

    June 07, 2015 at 11:11 pm

    oooh number 8 really cheered me up ^_^ i wish i could meet my future husband in another country and to have same ideas of mine ^_^ and number 10 thanks god i didn’t have this problem :D have a nice day :D

    Reply
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