People Who Are Old Souls But Secretly Feel Very Alone Usually Display These 11 Traits
Old souls struggle in ways most of us don't.
kaanturker / Shutterstock People who are old souls typically find it hard to connect with other people. They have a unique perspective on life that is usually not shared among their peers. This will lead them to either spend much of their time alone or spend time with individuals who are older than they are.
While in some cases, old souls enjoy their time alone to deeply connect with their inner thoughts and recharge from social interactions, at times these individuals may feel that being alone is causing them to feel lonely. If they feel disconnected from the world and like an outsider, they may begin developing a negative outlook toward their solitude.
People who are old souls but secretly feel very alone usually display these 11 traits
1. A need for meaningful connection
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A person who is an old soul but secretly feels very alone will likely have a need for meaningful connection. An old soul has a perspective that greatly differs from the way people view things today.
Having a different perspective on the world makes an old soul crave finding connections that make them feel understood. While their friend groups will likely be small, they will include individuals of all cultures and backgrounds. They will also typically want more substance from the relationships they have, so they may at times find themselves having more older friends than friends their age or younger.
2. Disconnection from peers
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People who are old souls tend to be less superficial than their peers. This can cause them to feel secretly very alone and disconnected from their peers.
Old souls are known for being wise beyond their years. They prioritize things that people their age do not, like meaningful conversations, and they have a disinterest in mainstream culture and trends. This disconnect can lead them to feel alone and unseen, even when around large groups of people.
3. Overwhelming empathy
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Someone who is an old soul but secretly feels very alone will likely experience an overwhelming amount of empathy. At times, the intense amount of empathy they feel can become draining.
Due to their ability to easily sense and understand the emotions of others, people with old souls typically feel like a safe place for most individuals. They can, at times, become the person everyone wants to go to for emotional support and advice. This can lead to emotional exhaustion and a need for isolation to recharge.
4. Feeling like the odd one out
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Most people who are old souls will feel like the odd one out in most groups of people. This can lead to them secretly feeling really alone.
The people around them usually have a superficial focus and care more about what is trendy instead of nurturing deep and meaningful connections. When priorities and interests do not align within their groups of friends, old souls will feel like they're the odd ones out. They will constantly desire a connection that resonates with who they actually are, and will feel extremely alone when they do not find that connection, and will resort to isolating themselves as a result.
5. Intense introspection
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Most old soul people long for connections that make them feel seen and understood, but with such a different perspective on the world, it is hard for them to find this connection. This usually leads to old souls feeling secretly alone and in need of intense introspection.
Taking time to process their feelings and internally connect with themselves is their way of coping with not being able to find many people like them. They may cling heavily to the inner life they live and find a stronger sense of belonging when they are alone than they do when they are with others.
6. Overthinking
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Old souls constantly struggle with the desire for meaningful and deep connections, yet they feel like outsiders, making these connections seem impossible. This causes them to secretly feel really alone and overthink quite a bit.
Old souls are known to self-reflect and constantly contemplate the deeper meaning and broader perspective of life. They value their solitude because it gives them time to indulge in this deep reflection and thought. However, some old souls find the time they spend alone to feel lonely, and if this is the case, then their overthinking habits can quickly become unhealthy and lead to them developing a warped idea of themselves.
7. Secret sensitivity to rejection
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Someone who is an old soul that feels alone will likely struggle with a secret sensitivity to rejection. As individuals who desire deep connections and are dissatisfied by surface-level interactions, when they feel rejected, it hurts them because they feel like it stands in the way of developing connections.
They also feel unseen and misunderstood, which is something they likely always feel considering their such drastically different outlook on the world. Especially when searching for romantic partners, old souls do not understand playing hard to get or why people use mind games in the early stages of dating so it usually leaves them feeling rejected and even more like an outsider.
8. Avoidance of social gatherings
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Despite an old soul feeling lonely from spending so much time alone, they may still choose to avoid social gatherings. These individuals cannot connect with the superficial interactions they typically have with people, so they usually decide to spend time alone instead of attempting to find connections in social gatherings.
Even when they are choosing to avoid social situations, it may still cause them to feel lonely because they still have a desire for meaningful connections. There is still only so much time their internal sense of belonging can keep them satisfied.
9. Deep observation without participation
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People with old souls may find themselves feeling alone. These individuals typically observe during social interactions more than they participate.
They have a high sense of awareness and a deep reflective nature, so they pay close attention to the behaviors of others during social interactions as well as what other people tend to say and value. By observing themselves in this way, old souls realize how different they are compared to others, especially those their own age, and this can cause them to feel alone and like they are the only one of their kind.
10. Excelling at giving advice
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If someone is an old soul, they may notice that people commonly come to them for advice. This could lead to them feeling isolated.
While old souls do tend to give wise advice and usually are very understanding and empathetic, if they begin to take on so much of other people’s problems, it can quickly start to drain them. They also may find that they feel alone because, instead of feeling like they can lean on others for advice, they always feel like they have to be the ones giving the advice.
11. Comfort in the past
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Since so many people who are old souls feel misunderstood and alone in the present, they will often cope with this feeling by finding comfort in the past. If they share values with what the overall societal values were in the past, then they will aim to find a sense of belonging by connecting with past things or older individuals.
These individuals are still good at embracing the present and are open to growth and change within society. They just have a love for the past, and in the time they spend appreciating the past, they finally get to feed their desire to be understood.
Kamryn Idol is a writer with a bachelor's degree in media and journalism who covers lifestyle, relationship, family, and wellness topics.
