By Ashlee McCabe
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
“My Soul is from elsewhere, I’m sure of that, and I intend to end up there.” — Rumi
I will never forget being 7 years old and overhearing my friends mother politely tell my parents that I was “too big for my boots”, and that I “knew too much for my age”. Though I had little comprehension of what she meant at the time, it was the first instance I can recall where I began to realize that I was somehow different to most other children my own age.
At 9 years old, while all my friends were spellbound by Nickelodeon cartoons and Disney movies, I was at home watching The Silence of the Lambs, or some other psychological thriller. Similarly, while 90’s pop bands were all the rage in the school yard, I longed for someone that knew who Led Zeppelin or The Doors were.
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For much of my life, I have always felt older on the inside than my physical age projected on the outside. And being told that I was ‘wise beyond my years’ was something that I became well accustomed to hearing from strangers and friends alike. However, it wasn’t until I began to understand the concept of an ‘old soul’ that I finally had an explanation for my uniqueness.
What is an old soul?
All souls were created at the same time, therefore technically speaking, all souls are the same chronological age. However, an old soul is a soul that is older in terms of its spiritual and intellectual maturity because it has incarnated many times, meaning it has repeated the cycle of life, birth, and death again and again. A young soul for example, may have incarnated only a few times, whereas an old soul may have incarnated hundreds of times. Old souls therefore carry many lifetimes worth of knowledge and wisdom.
Though identifying an old soul is not always straightforward, if you relate to majority of the following characteristics, there’s a good chance you are one.
1. You like being alone
Old souls are typically self-sufficient loners who are perfectly content in their own company. Although they are not necessarily anti-social, old souls have no interest in following the crowd or conforming to social norms, but rather, they march to the beat of their own drums. As a result, they are much happier in solitude, where they can connect with their higher selves, meditate, reflect, and ponder life’s questions.
2. You’re addicted to knowledge
Old souls are constantly seeking growth and expansion. Ignorance is rarely bliss to an old soul, rather, they have a natural inclination towards learning. Old souls are often fascinated by history and philosophy, and it is not uncommon for an old soul to spend hours researching a topic of interest.
3. You have an affinity towards older people
Since old souls feel more mature than their chronological age, they typically have trouble relating to their peers. As a result, they are naturally attracted to older people, both romantically and platonically, because their intellectual capacity is closer to their own.
4. You’re an activist by nature
Old souls feel a connectedness to the world around them. They are tolerant and accepting of all living things. Accordingly, old souls are often activists for human or animal rights.
5. You love to read books
Old souls are nostalgic beings who enjoy doing things the old fashioned way. They are not infatuated with the ever evolving world of technology, and are much happier reading an old book than scrolling through their Facebook feed.
6. You’re a spiritual seeker
Because old souls believe that there is more to life than meets the eye, they are frequently drawn to religious, spiritual, or metaphysical teachings in order to gain a more profound understanding of the world.
7. You’re intuitive
Old souls acquire much wisdom, experience, and insight over the course of their many lifetimes, therefore, they are extremely intuitive and often know things without knowing why. This means that they are masters at reading people, and can typically gauge a person’s temperament the second they meet them. Psychic abilities are also common in old souls.
8. You’ve experienced many difficulties in life
R. F. Goudey said: “Reincarnation is essential to enable the soul to evolve to its divine right”, and because old souls are in the final stages of their reincarnation, they seek to use their last lives on earth to learn all that they can before returning to the divine. This means that old souls will often face many difficulties, such as chronic illness, depression, troubled relationships, and other challenges indicative of a hard life.
9. You feel like you were born in the wrong era
Old souls often feel as though they were born in the wrong era. For instance, an old soul might be captivated by a particular decade in time, and their taste in clothing, music and movies might reflect this. While their peers get excited about the latest modern music festival, old souls may find themselves longing for the days of Woodstock.
10. You already think you’re an old soul
There is a quote by an unknown author that says: life is a school, where you learn how to remember what your soul already knows. Therefore, if you already suspect that you might be an old soul, there is a good chance that you probably are — your mind is picking up on the mature energy that your soul radiates.
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About the author:
Ashlee McCabe is a freelance writer, self-confessed knowledge junkie, spiritual seeker, avid meditator, and a passionate Law of Attraction advocate. “I feel as though it is my calling in life to educate people on the great inner power we all possess within us, and how to harness this power in order to consciously create amazing lives.”
You can connect with Ashlee via email [email protected]
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