The teenage years of growing up are hard. This stage in your life of figuring out how the world works and how you want to live your life is hard enough in itself, but having moments when you feel out of place within your age group can be just as much of a challenge. Being called an 'Old Soul' or "older than your years," you might feel like you belong in a previous generation, and here's why:
1. Your politeness is rarely recognized/reciprocated by those around you.
Growing up, you were probably taught to say please and thank you, to wait to eat until everyone at the table is served, and other simple things like introducing your friends by name. Nothing is more frustrating than going out of your way to hold the door for those behind you, and not getting a “thank you,” let alone any sort of acknowledgment. You obviously pass many people walking to class, and naturally, if you make eye contact with a stranger, you smile. Many will smile back, but some don’t, probably feeling uncomfortable because they don’t know who you are, and might think that doing such a simple nice gesture is strange. It’s almost hard to get upset because you know that these things aren’t practiced nowadays like they used to be.
2. You’re okay with being alone with your thoughts.
You’ve been told you’re quiet and more reserved, and in a time today where everyone feels the need to give their two cents on everything, you prefer to keep your thoughts to yourself. You would much rather prefer to speak when spoken to first than to be the person that shares their opinions that not many people have any interest in at all. When you do share your thoughts, you make sure they are well thought out, so you mean exactly what you say.
3. You understand why older generations dislike millennials.
You’ve heard it before and will continue to hear it: our generation is full of lazy, ignorant, entitled kids who are so dependent on technology that they are stupid. The only thing is, you can believe it. Looking around you and interacting with the diverse group of millennial students at your school, you can see why older generations think these things. Everywhere you look, heads are down and glued to a phone screen. When there is interaction, it's sharing biased opinions on the issues within our world and who exactly is to blame for it. Silence with a stranger in an elevator that you always saw your father fill with a simple “How are you today?” remains uncomfortably quiet. People stare straight ahead or down at their phones, thinking they’d be thought of as a weirdo if they dared to try and make friendly conversation with a complete stranger. You always saw students disrespect substitute teachers and other authority figures in school, talking back and being difficult because they didn’t feel like the rules applied to them. Meanwhile, you sat quietly at your desk, doing what was asked of you and observing the foolishness, wondering what it was about following directions and being respectful that was so hard.
4. It’s rare finding others your age who know and appreciate old music.
Your music of choice is probably comprised of current artists you hear on the radio, whether it be pop, alternative, country, R&B, and so on. Then there’s the music you always hear playing at parties, the overplayed rap songs with ridiculous lyrics that everyone knows the words to. Every once in a while you just want to hear some old classic rock, but unfortunately, if your friends hand you the aux cord and you start playing The Eagles, you’re probably going to get some weird looks and you'll likely lose your aux privileges. “Hotel California” will be replaced by “Bad and Boujee,” and you’re reminded once again that you’re only safe to play old music with your parents without the fear of being judged or misunderstood.
5. You find social media an overall stupid concept.
A once useful concept to quickly share information over a platform for all people across the world to see, the lines of the initial purpose of social media have been blurred. Information is definitely being shared, but most of it isn’t of any relative importance. The emergence of Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook have created such a competitive and self-absorbed society that has no moral value or true importance. You see these platforms as being used by almost all users to exploit others and try and convince their friends or followers how interesting their daily lives are. While it can be used for good, showing good deeds and inspiring stories, the things that gain the most attention are ridiculous. Outrageous teen girls who gain fame disrespecting their mothers on talk shows, Kylie Jenner, the slander of the leaders of our nation, and the constant creation of internet memes seem to be the focus of everyone around us. The things that we are focusing our attention on are degrading our view on things that can actually make a positive difference in the world. Yes, you have your own social media to post your occasional Instagram picture, to wish an old friend a happy birthday on Facebook, or maybe get a laugh from something funny you see on Twitter, but you recognize that it is all truly one dimensional and you constantly wonder the purpose of it all.
6. You find it hard to have the patience to deal with today’s dating culture.
Today's relationships are often made much more complicated than you think they should be. People are having the tendency to keep their feelings in so it doesn't seem like they care too much, and can't allow themselves be vulnerable. Another annoyance is trying to decode the difference between "talking" for a while and officially "dating," with some relationships never surpassing the talking stage and becoming exclusive for fear of being tied down, or being held back by a title. You don't understand the purpose of an awkward in-between stage where you don't know what to refer to the other person as when people ask about your relationship status. Lastly, you wish small gestures like love letters and opening car doors was still common, and not conveyed through sending a text with a flirty emoji instead. Romance and actually expressing your feelings seems like a dying concept or an increasingly rare one at the least. Communication, a simple, yet crucial part of relationships, is being complicated by the fact that a good portion of it is occurring through a device. Not to mention how dating is being molded by the hookup culture which is reinforced by expectations often seen on social media, and what you start to expect from most boys who show interest in you is a “You up?” text at 11 p.m.
7. You wish you could’ve grown up in a different time.
You listen intently every time your parents and grandparents tell stories about the “good ole days,” taking in every detail and trying to picture yourself fitting into the story and the time and place, wondering how life back then compared to now. You’re bored by the style of living and what’s become popularized right now and wish so badly you could experience a simpler time without all the technology. What you would give to be a teenager in the 50s going on a date to a diner, or to go to Woodstock sitting on a blanket with flowers in your hair, or the 80s, banging your frizzy hair along to ACDC in the car going out with your friends on a Friday night. Looking through old pictures resonates with something inside you, and you’re convinced that lives were better lived back then without the complications and dependence on technology. Instead, here you are, an old soul in a young body trapped in the world that is 2017.
