I thought this at Age ConcernвЂ™s Christmas lunch, at which I was a waiter. They understand the impermanence of everything, so they cherish the little things not from the position of utter abandon like the youth, but from the position of an aged and contemplative appreciation. Old souls acknowledge death as well as life, and are acutely aware that their own life is limited. The degree to which this is the nurture versus the nature of a person is unclear, though we now know much of our temperament is in fact innate. One neednвЂ™t subscribe to any religion to see that there are people whose souls seem older, more experienced, more wise than others, and vice versa. Some Eastern religions believe souls are reborn, until such a point that they have experienced and evolved enough to merit ascension to a higher state of being.

Old souls seem like they have lived life to the extent that several humans lives can. They have seen and felt life to the extent a human life can. Little surprises or offends or impassions them. Naturally, old souls tend to inhabit the old.ДЄn old soul is calm and experienced. (This is why I can never fully trust people who вЂdonвЂ™t like childrenвЂ™: it is like saying you donвЂ™t like sunsets and campfires and snow and beaches and forests and life and joy.) The old of soul You just sort of watch them, transfixed, like a campfire or a sunset. This is why we enjoy seeing children at play. What is insignificant or meaningless to the adult is of inestimable significance and transcendent meaning to the child. Whilst I was writing this, an example and case in point surreptitiously arrived from my 5 year old niece using her motherвЂ™s phone yesterday afternoon: Their thoughts and emotions are unregulated and immediate, they say what they think and feel in the moment. The young are naively baffled and awe-inspired by the infinite potential of their own imaginations. The spirit of youth is boundless enthusiasm and wonderment and creativity and joie de vivre something to cherish and behold. Naturally, youthful spirit saturates the young. People animated by either a youthful spirit or an old soul вЂ“ or even better, both вЂ“ are the sorts of people you want in your life. вЂњLove old people and nippers, and wary of anyone in-between.вЂќДЇor the most part, the young have youthful spirits, and the elderly old souls. вЂњI feel a kid some moments and an OAP the next,вЂќ I replied. Maybe keeping this mental age is why Annie still finds the time to swim with me (or maybe sheвЂ™ll do anything for respite from three whelps, even throwing herself in the wintry sea). To be fully grown out of your twenties might be monotonous. Maybe it is not so bad a thing to feel mentally вЂin your twentiesвЂ™: they are the years in which you try new things and figure yourself out and what you want in life. Maybe when her kids are teenagers or flying the nest, a feeling of a different mental age may assert itself? It would be quite something to have the spirit of oneвЂ™s twenties going into the dreaded forties. She is, in spirit, still that person in the age of young motherhood. That is the age at which she came of age, as a young mother, and she still is a young mother, now of three. I find this amusing for some reason, but it does make sense, too. And thatвЂ™s when I feel I became who I am. However, Annie informed me the other night, вЂњMy mental age has remained at 23.вЂќ Approaching her 30th birthday, she asked us not to talk about it. From her point of view, it is old вЂ“ in fact, it is the oldest she has ever been.ДЄnnie has doubtlessly read this and cringed purely at the sight of the number 33. Partly modesty, yes, but partly because Annie genuinely thinks 33 years is an old age. From MumвЂ™s point of view вЂ“ who is about double her age, give or take вЂ“ Annie is of course very young. Mum said Annie is вЂњso young and lovely.вЂќ She is. вЂњMy mental age has remained at 23.вЂќДЄnyhoo, my older sister Annie gave me pause for thought the other day, about ageing. Interminable trying-on of different shoes to be worn for one school term before they chafe against the boat-feet outgrowing them. You know what they say about big feet, though? My younger sister had a comeback in the bag, with her little pixie feet below the standard shoe sizing chart: вЂњIвЂ™m size 12!вЂќД«ut my feet were like boats, landing me for shoe-wear big cloggy buggers, and sadly no comeback to accompany them. вЂњAct your age and not your shoe size!вЂќ Mum would admonish me and my younger sister in our primary school years.

Young souls meaning