An older, wiser coworker (she was in her 30s, I was mid-20s — relativity is everything!) told me long ago, when I was kvetching about my inability to get women my age to take a liking to me other than as a "good friend," that I would have to wait until women my age grew up to my inner age. That was my introduction to the concept of an "old soul" (although I don't recall hearing the term until I met Deb when I was 41). Deb says I have an old soul, and who am I to disagree with my wise and wonderful wife?