The particular life challenges and destined events that are the hallmark of being an old soul...
If you're an old soul you will undoubtedly be giving, caring loving and compassionate - all wonderful attributes that we are taught are the signs of a developed person who cares for others, and the actions that we take that may affect others.
The key signs of an old soul
· Giving and caring often putting others first
· Had a difficult romantic life often with much pain and disappointment
· More than likely had a soulmate relationship
· Things just seem to happen to you and around you, often becoming very dramatic through the seemingly extreme reactions of others
· Events repeat themselves
· Have trouble connecting with your family
· Somehow know you're different
· Have some psychic intuition and 'just knowing' things
· Find that you have deeper emotions and passions than most people
· People have extreme reactions to you - some just adore you and some seem to really dislike you yet you behave the same to everyone
· Have an inner creative passion
· Suffer lots of jealousy
· Often perceived wrongly
· Feel your don't have much free will, like your life is being controlled by some outside force
· Often feel 'stuck' like events just keep on happening to you time after time
All of us can relate to some of these characteristics and events at some time in our lives however the 'old souls' amongst us will shout "Yes that's me !" and immediately understand and relate.
In contrast, we have all met the 'young souls' the ones who profess to be giving and caring and often seem to seek us out, but who never really give, just take, and who then commit the most insensitive and often cruel acts but seem to have no understanding of what they've done or any sign of remorse whatsoever. In fact they can often go to such extremes to get very aggressive when we point out their actions and the effect that they've had on us..
Soul Age
The terms 'old soul' and 'young soul' aren't just descriptions of personality types but do give us a meaningful clue to why we find ourselves in this life cycle…
The journey of the soul through many lives is one of growth and learning from the earliest manifestation of that soul in human form - where it's focused on material things, power, ego and the "now", eventually through to the higher levels of compassion, truth, destiny, caring and fairness in later lives as old souls.
The soul is required to visit human form many times in order to learn these lessons. It is through interaction with others on the three dimensional plane that the soul accrues karma, the results of its actions on others and paying the price of those actions ( first rule of karma "what goes around comes around" - or what I often refer to as the 'karmic boomerang') that develops, hones, and tunes the spirit into the higher levels, eventually becoming attuned to the highest level of as 'old soul' in later lives.
Part of that developing process is to become infinitely more empathic, attuned to the universe and destiny, and for our intuition to develop more towards psychic powers. At this stage we sense that destiny plays a greater part in our lives that we could previously have imagined as we 'peek behind the scenes' of the universal mechanisms through our developing intuition.
This itself is also a challenge as we watch those less enlightened who are still contained in the "I know best" mode, mess up their lives going wandering down the wrong path. Typical of this is the soulmate where we are tasked to watch them wander off knowing somehow that the tests they will face will ultimately bring them back around, older, wiser and more spiritually aware.
It's important to understand that each time our soul revisits the earthly plane, that we play 'catch-up', developing through our earthly actions and learning experiences quickly to regain that level of spiritual awareness we attained when leaving the previous life. In other words, in entering this life we are initially unconscious of the fact that we are required to have a very testing life to 'fast track' us to the spiritual level we are meant to be at in this one.
So the older the soul, the harder and more testing the early events in order to make us reach inside and spiritually open to regain previously achieved levels of spirituality and to further develop..
'Soul age' with Soulmates
I've already mentioned that we have all had to deal with the 'young souls', the ones who seem sent to test us and can often leave us feeling dazed and confused and hurt.
At this point I have to highlight something that's particularly important and relevant to soulmates. Your soulmate is unlikely to be a young soul even though their actions to-date may fit what we've described as a young soul.
We get terribly confused when we sense they are loving and caring and deep and spiritually enlightened yet they frequently behave in the totally opposite way
The important difference between a soulmate and a young soul is that the universe does not connect young souls with old souls in soulmate connections. What your soulmate is most likely going through is the life tests on that "fast track" , i.e learning fast and developing to their real soul age through meeting all the tough tests and making all the mistakes, acting in that earthly controlled, ego based, "I know best" way.
Hence the duality of their existence and the confusion they cause within our lives. What you are sensing is that destiny. It's the butterfly sensing another butterfly but seeing a caterpillar….
This is the main reason soulmates have to part, in order that the less developed one catches up with their earthly experiences in order to fully awaken spiritually and be ready to reconnect with their real soul age from the past life and to reconnect with you to continue the journey at the same spiritual level…
Energy Vampires and Attack
Old souls will also be no strangers to people who try to cling to, or take or attack our energy. Often the more we give to people the more abuse we take. It's an extreme example of the "no good deed goes unpunished" rule.
Energy vampires are those who somehow spiritually sense our power and energy to come into our lives to using us as a crutch, often draining us through their need to explain their problems and us be the solution.
Frequently they will use our caring, giving nature to assist them with their lives, often becoming too close and draining and we don't seem to be able to find a way to tell them that this is something we aren't comfortable with and so we allow it to continue to an abusive level.
Most times the person clinging to us won't be aware of why they are doing this they just sense, feel that we have something they need that causes them to be drawn closer and closer.
This is because their spirit, their energy senses a more powerful energy. It's not on an ego awareness plane, we're not talking 'mind' stuff here we're talking spiritual energy which all of us sense even if we aren't realizing it. It's on the "there's something about him/her" level.
Some will migrate to that energy for healing and comfort, the 'karmic vampire', others will fall for the energy in a romantic way and become instantly attached, with others seeking us out as a focus for blame and negative attention ( karmic dumping ). When confronted with their actions, even in the most caring and compassionate of ways, aggression and blame are often the responses they visit upon us as they lash out...
Jealous bosses or co-workers, unwanted sexual attention, being 'picked out', blamed, the focus of attention when we don't want to be - all of these are classic symptoms.. Yes anyone will experience some of this in their daily lives but what we are talking here is something that happens to the old soul again and again at a frequency and intensity far above anything that can statistically be considered average..
Now you may think the word attack is rather strong and negativity and conflict are a common phenomenon of everyday human interaction, however any old soul will point out the frequency and veracity of their experiences- often amazing others when they hear the stories.
At this point I remember lots of incidents in my own life but the most profound moment was when I was confronted by someone who spat anger and bile at me proclaiming I'd done this and that and the other with dark motives.
The total shock was something I won't forget. Actually I hadn't done any of these things in fact I wasn't even in the country when they happened. However that didn't mean anything to this man - he set himself up as judge, jury and executioner and that utterly stunned me. It was only one of lots of incidences but is typical of an 'attack'.
On an energy level, this guy, to my definite first hand knowledge, cheated on his wife, was unfair in business, had a huge ego and had controlled and manipulated several people to his own ends. Nevertheless I had never taken it as my task to judge any of this, I just treated him like I treated anyone else. That was what caused the utter disbelief the astonishment that his 'reality' was 180 degrees from actual events.
Attacks from young souls who misinterpret our actions based upon their own narrow understandings are commonplace. In the example above, this guy had judged me based not upon his perception of me, my morals and motives - but from his own. He projected people's actions as having the same intent as his own and not realizing what he had done, had given me an insight into his own dark world by the veracity and ferociousness of his attack.
He could not perceive any of my actions as being honest, decent and caring and putting others first because he wasn't capable of acting from that place within himself. In addition, whatever anger, frustration and emotions this caused necessitated him exaggerating these false claims to a level so ludicrous that it lost all connection with reality.
In the end a quick chat with his lawyer resolved the problem because the lawyer simply told me the case was so ludicrous he couldn't take it seriously. However it was still very painful for me and really illustrates that in addition to giving love and light and understanding, we need to be prepared to defend ourselves against attach from a darker or afflicted soul - 'karmic dumping' as I call it.
This again is one of the spiritual karmic tests that every old soul has to face. I always say that an old soul can walk into a room full of people and without even saying a word, three others will adore them and three hate them instantaneously.
All of the above cannot be avoided and are not as a result of our actions but of who we are on a spiritual level.
The importance of power.
As we grow and learn, parents' teachers, mentors, the media, religious teachings and other influences in our lives all teach us that being giving and kind and caring and turning the other cheek are vital to being a good human being. True of course..
So why do we more caring, more giving, more compassionate old souls often feel walked over by life ??
As in all things there is a duality. Look at nature - there's no cold without hot, no up without down, no dark without light. The yin and the yang, the interplay of opposing forces seeking balance.
Although conventional teaching is to keep pouring love and light and openness and giving into situations there is a point where we become depleted. There is a point where our love and compassion can cause us to give more than is healthy, to accept more than is our lot, and when we run out of cheeks to turn.
Herein lies one of the most important karmic lessons in that, we must seek balance. We must maintain our own personal power and not allow love, compassion and "thinking the best of people" to become voluntary abuse when that person or persons repays us with negativity.
Allowing this to happen encourages lowering self-esteem, feelings of abandonment, and a sense that destiny has left us behind when people are responding to us in a very negative way. For many of us this is a lesson that takes many years to learn.
Most of use will have experienced abuse of our energy in different situations from work, family and relatives, within friendships and especially in personal relationships.
We often give too much because we are giving people, and through that action diminish our personal power. Give love and light YES, pray for people YES, BUT I believe that it is essential for all of us to sometimes have to fight to protect the incredible value of our energy to realize it is a rare thing and to value it even when others don't.
In achieving balance we understand that giving love and light and having compassion and caring and understanding of people, especially those that are afflicted and confused by negativity is essential but is only one half of that balance. Love and light won't get your elephant off the tracks so sometimes we need to use our power in an assertive way.
The old soul experience comes with many such tests. This is not about giving less or giving to receive, it is to balance our giving and loving and caring with a total respect for the gold that is our own energy…In all things balance…
"To thine own self be true", William Shakespeare
Steve Gunn - 6/17/2006 http://stevegunn.net
The author of this article has chosen to make this article available with free reprint rights. Click here to copy this article.
» left by Alexandra from Canada (211 days 19 hours ago.)
Some might say they are but rarely some will be, People who are wise and know what to do when things are bad, those people are the real old souls for they do not fear and are not frightened by things as young souls are.
I myself am an old soul, I don't quite know myself yet but have many flash backs and dreams of past lives...So those who claim to be, well think again, I ashore you some might be dissapointed. I do not blame you though fro wanting to be ancient, everyone want to be more than we are, but you see, we all have a reason to be here so we are all special in some way.
» left by Hirinaki from England (203 days 11 hours ago.)
I do have fears in my life but in a psychic reading, I was told I was an very old wise soul...So how can we really know we are an old soul or a young soul? Maybe you are yourself a young soul thinking you are an old soul? It might be possible that a young soul had quite a few lifetimes...
» left by Josh from El Monte (200 days 5 hours ago.)
I personally believe that to be an old soul one must know the true value of acceptance. For it is acceptance that helps the human mind to accept and allow all that was, is, and what is to come. Finding acceptance within yourself uncovers your eyes by understanding that not everyone will do, think, or see the things the way you do, thus the feeling of negative energy around us. Oblivious old souls transcended from young souls, and therefore our ways of trying to cope with young souls are not in sync, because of our different levels of conscious awareness; and will usually a young souls respond would be with negative energy, or in better terms lower frequencies. A good example would be a parent and an adolescent. Once you can understand acceptance you will find that there is a God. You will find that there is only one supreme being, the oldest of the old, or the first frequency that has the authority to judge, criticizes, condemned, etc. You will also find withing yourself that there are universal laws that abide to all human beings. Divine laws that are for human unity. Where can we find such perfect laws?...From God of course, creator of a chaotic but harmonious universe or universes. YHWH
» left by Will from Dallas (198 days 4 hours ago.)
Mr. Gunn... Thank you So much what a blessing you are.... I just began to learn about synchronicities in the past year but I even had a special one today that got me to thinking and led me to this article... I don't know if I've ever discovered anything more accurately about myself than in this article and I am intrigued.. I am going to read many of yoru articlels if not all of them... Thank You So Much , I send you an enormous amount of love and appreciation stranger... Please keep doing the things you do, you have certainly helped me know that there is alot more to look forward in life, or at least helped me reveal that I have always known that...
» left by Katie from Arlington TX (189 days 20 hours ago.)
This article answers so many deep feelings within. It was like reading my own life's answers right here. Very comforting to know I'm not crazy and that I am the outcast in my family but for good reason. And it's no wonder the "friends" in my life were in my life before I realized they were jealous or feeding off of me. I believe your souls know and once you are connected to yourself, you are stronger and more defiant than ever. That's when you take control of your life and find peace and balance. You don't take this cruel worlds punishment as personal as you use to-you understand it and stand strong against it with your kindness and compassion. You still love even when you are not getting love in return, but you also know to keep your distance and to recharge in your own enviroment you've created for yourself.
So how long before an old soul continues on outside of this earthly plane? I promise I know my time is near....which I really don't want it to be....not yet anyways. I feel I have much to accomplish still. Why is that? How can I feel it both near and far? Must be the control issues! Anyways, LOVED the article.
Wow this article is so great and full of clues as why things seems to have such a pattern.
One of the 3 feminine light of my life just died ..2 weeks ago, of illness and she would always say to me i had an old soul... Until today i hadn't got the time to check out what she meant. I have too an illness from which i"ll never never recover but I am accepting it, day by day.
Not living in the past anymore and not willing to know the future either, as being fully aware of the only present day is well enough.
I'm so grateful to have checked out this article as they are so many answers to my "different" way of being, perception, creativity, intuition etc.
As far as i look into my past, I always consider myself different and suffered severe ostracism for it too.
Right now i just feel as I am giving birth to myself everyday, and i am accepting my limits (aka energy depleted), i talk straight without second thoughts either.
It makes me think of a friend i had long not seen for the past 20 years and re-encountered last week....Here are some of his questions as to "try" to evaluate me, well i think, ha!ha!.
Q1-Do you want to be a millionaire?
A1- No, all i need is a shelter allowing the sun to irradiate my heart, food, and a basic income from an employment that I have chosen and that I like.
Q2-Do you believe in religion?
A2-No, all that matter for me is spirituality. I never saw any war about that aspect.
My definition of God is: Life & Love, it is present in all religion but not much people seem aware of that.
Q3-Do you believe in karma?
A3-Yes but with the belief that we can modify it by being good, patient, honest and sharing our beliefs, energy, $, within the respect of our own balance life.
This article IS great. I have felt for about ten years now (I'm 27) that I have an 'old soul.' I can sense other people's auras and feel physically tired when I'm around negative or self-centered people. I am a writer, so I get A LOT of relief writing everything down. I was so sure few other people were as sensitive as me. Unfortunately, my mother is an Energy Vampire. I never understood why I couldn't be as 'strong' as she was, but now she's getting older and is burnt out from being so self-centered and angry a lot. I have had strange and very negative friendships, too. My best friend in 6th grade stole my boyfriend and then cut me off from her friendship for good for no reason. A roommate several years ago took money from me and called me a terrible dog owner and was all-around bitchy. Another roommate seemed nice around other people, but I could sense that deep down she was cold and insensitive. She was very controlling. I have felt more than once that I ATTRACT controlling people, negative people, self-centered people. Oh, well. They make AWESOME villains for my stories!
Meanwhile, I feel very old inside and am attracted to old things - old houses, antiques, elderly people. I give tours at a historic house and feel at home there! I joke that I was born in the wrong century, and every once in awhile somebody else nods. They feel it, too.
A very good article indeed, im only 19 and struggling to really understand who i am and this is the clostest match i culd find to what i experience. some days i feel like a normal person, some days i feel spirituly alive, some days i feel down and then happy. i have a family, a girlfreind, somewhere to live, good jod with good pay, and still.... im unhappy, its like this very deep, dark force holding me back, iv had very frightning, demonic, acient like images, im a very caring and loving person, (in a grumpy sawt of way LOL) and yet i feel like i pocess this sawt of power, energy sawt of thing from within me, it feels very deep, dark, cold, suffering and yet so powerfull it frightens me!!! it feels like i or somthing that connects with me emotionly and possibly spirituly should know how to use it. it feels like one day im just guna blow because of the frustration i experience in day to day life. im sorry if iv gone off the subject but it feels like what im typing is a load of rubbish and doesnt make any sense. explaining what feel and experience ISNT easy, i can go on forever typing stuff n what i feel, but what iv said is a ruff idea. or have i gone mad? can anyone help???
» left by name from location (163 days 18 hours ago.)
this article is craaazy wow . talk about hitting the nail w/ the hammer . i cant even remember why i looked this up it just came to me (as you all probably experienced before). im only 19 to paint a picture...my characteristics are like 110% scorpio its messed up. ever since i was little people have told me im an old soul. and they are right i believe...my life is a whirlwind tho. i am well off, but i am still not happy. i dont have the passionate things i long for, so other quantities of things just dont do the trick...(pressure to pick a course and RUSH into university is horriiiibbbbble)
it soo feels like ppl are against me/jealous... which is $%&@*ed cuz im a smart young man, thats athletic, humorous, and loves the outdoors and music...aaand i have a twin brother.....so they have a reason to be jealoous. but thats what makes me crazy. i jst dont know why ppl would be hating me for no reason, using me for no reason, just decieving and taking advantage of the 'moral trust' i hope they too have as a human being. ive had good friends steal from me...friends that were so poor id give them a free TV and clothes (nice too), and he still stole couple hundred from me one day?! or how i didnt care cuz hes fiiiinallly out of my life for the small price of a few hundred bucks. so i dont care i put trust in the Lord and crossroads he puts me through..
but yah also... i believe i am an alpha male, so i long to find an alpha female....but no luck. women give me a lot of pain, as i am sooo $%&@*n picky that it bites me in the ass....and ive been alone a long time bcuz of my selective habits...but i will find what im looking for one day. i have faith. but its tough, i mean ive been given so much but i havent done anything with it, i have these huuge ideas (earth changing ideas) but i cant seem to think this is impressive....i feel as if the fact i am smart and creative is bad..and i wish i was more practical and conservative...but $%&@* that i wanna live and love to the fullest...
this article helps biiig-tiiiime. ooo ive seen some sh*t ppl and im telling you...there is a GOD, we as spirits will live and grow forever, maybe heaven is the top of the ladder..when the spirit has grown so much that it can now come into the final kingdom and finally rest....i dunoo......we as humans know nothing and its best that way... follow the Lords rules and spread Light! stand up when you have to...a coward dies a thousand deaths but a soldier dies but once....think from a neutral mind-state, breathe out the problems, embrace what makes you happy/what your good at, trust yourself, and basically believe........... p.s. music is awesome
» left by Vincent Kranenburg from The Netherlands (163 days 4 hours ago.)
"As in all things there is a duality. Look at nature - there's no cold without hot, no up without down, no dark without light. The yin and the yang, the interplay of opposing forces seeking balance.
Although conventional teaching is to keep pouring love and light and openness and giving into situations there is a point where we become depleted. There is a point where our love and compassion can cause us to give more than is healthy, to accept more than is our lot, and when we run out of cheeks to turn.
Herein lies one of the most important karmic lessons in that, we must seek balance. We must maintain our own personal power and not allow love, compassion and "thinking the best of people" to become voluntary abuse when that person or persons repays us with negativity."
I'm afraid i must disagree with this part. As duality, singularity is all. For duality is a single word, not two. Therefore, if one practises meeting up with destiny, i truly believe we can withstand all negativity or "vampires" with mere love. After all, loving assertiveness has never been proven to not exist.
As a result, the thought of balance becomes inappropriate. A ballet dancer can stand on one toe for a very long time and be balanced on that mere one toe. This supports my statement that we need practise. My conclusion is: the 'fast track' only lasts as long as you let it.
» left by Saleena from USA (157 days 6 hours ago.)
i cant believe how much this article describes me. I am not positive i am an old soul, but this article has answered many questions for me,like why i "just know things", and why drama surrounds me.
» left by emma from sydney (151 days 6 hours ago.)
I know im an old soul, but it doesnt explain why i make the same mistake over and over again, and the first time i ever made it it was as farmiliar as having my morning coffee. is the universe trying to tell me something or do i need to live another thousand lifetimes to learn. by the way, i am extremelly young, and my yet no one seems to percive me as that. as if my past life shines through on a stronger field thatn my actuall life. its as if im suppose to be somewhere else. something isnt right. its beyond i just know things, its i understand them in depth before they have a chance to make their effects and ripple through society. i dont even know why im sharing this here im just hoping someone may have an explaination, something i dont already know, someone wiser and older than me. not just a theory. i know the theory.
» left by Warren from toronto, ontario (125 days 12 hours ago.)
This is a great example of what happened to me when I was a teenager. I was basically floating on a cloud when I was younger, fallowing the rules or the universe.. giving and recieving love and enjoying the oneness with all life very much, but out of jelousy my mom's boyfriend put me down every day for over five years which lead to me becomming very depressed. I was able to release all of the depression as it is just negative energy in the form of suppressed anger... but anyways, now I have a whole new way to life.. I still give out lots of love and energy, but as soon as I see someone trying to take advatage of me.. I shut them out of my positive energy field.. It really feels good.. You will feel more powerful and respected by yourself...
Amazing article and thank you. Some repeated actions can be bewildering at best, devastating at worst.. I've often wondered if the heart contains more energy at birth in the older souls..
Although that statement alone could be viewed as contentious by some..
» left by Farhana from Berkeley (108 days 20 hours ago.)
Wow! Almost all the characteristics of an old soul matches me. I'm so glad I found this article! I thought I was the only one who felt this way. And you are totally right about the energy sucking vampires. Ugh...I always seem to attract all these needy, miserable people into my life who drain all my energy
» left by Cheryl Lolkema from Oregon (80 days 4 hours ago.)
I have recently found out that I am an Old Soul. I didn't know what it meant but now I do and it makes so much sense. I have all of the characteristics, but I need to work on some things. I too feel like people are sucking the life out of me, even though I do not have anyone I can call a friend, they all pretend to get what they want. I haven't found any real good friends because of my busy life trying to make it in the world while making everyone else's life around me comfortable. I just want to be free.......But if I stop what will happen to them?
» left by Khaos from canada (75 days 18 hours ago.)
wow this sounds like me i have always stood out and i have never met anyone else like me i learn everything it juggling dancing piano drawing maintence mechanic chemistry i have a labratory with beakers and all i am only 24 and i feel like a old man people treat me like one to i am a mover and all the guys are those egotistical men and they all openly tell me that they are terrified of me and i dont talk much im nice to everyone ive never gave them a reason to think that except i was in the marine corps but i got out before the war actually very lucky too most my unit has died i have done everything skydiving scuba diving climbed pikes peak in colorado my dad was a special forces green barret in vietnam and a eagle scout in the boy scouts i spent 3 years at age 10 living at a lake surving off the land with my family we were homeless but my dad taught me and built great tents and we had tons of food my life is just is a fairy tale and i have never understood why everytime i pick something up i can learn it immediatly when i was a freshman i got a scolarship to play football which i turned down i couldnt be a jock i hated them i was a nerd at heart but everyone like me i dressed like a goth and was friends with most people although there is tons of people who just dont like me which i understand im so weird plus i have moved 85 times differnt motels and states cities all over america now i live in canada which is great i dont understand where to go from here i am trying to right a book oh and i got into magic a few months ago and i picked up on it quickly as well i read 5 tarots so far with 100% accurate and i can read palms very well i havent tried spells or nothing but i dont understand life where do i go and am i doomed to walk the earth alone i cant seem to keep friends excluding my wife who is awesome she is a old soul as well but i think on a differnt grade so she doesnt understand much about me but i have zero friends i cant keep them im to weird for them i spend countless hours studing but the more i learn the more i realize i dont know anything about this world its kinda nice to find this forum finally my mind is a bit more at ease theres other people like me strange but in my mind i make perfect sense its humanity that i dont understand i try i can speak 5 differnt languages and im learning to read greek and latin after that i will tackly sanscrit i know so much about culture and ive been so many places but nowhere quite feels like home
» left by Crohns Warrior Princess from Toronto Canada (48 days 23 hours ago.)
Wow so insightful, and the comment story left above truly one of a kind, I have my own stories (too many), sometimes I wonder if it's a blessing or curse, but then I think I'm being selfish by thinking that.
I am so happy I found this article. You're dead on!! I have been called an "old soul" so many times and never tried to find out what it means. I just thought I was odd.
Now, I've have learned to love myself and keep my thoughts to myself. I only share my thoughts with people that I know really get it. Everyone else just looks at me with blank eyes. Then I just feel like a weirdo. So, what's the point?
Anyway, thanks for breaking it down. Great article!
» left by michelle from Euless, Texas (12 days 19 hours ago.)
great article. Makes me wonder about some of the extremely vivid dreams i have, and the reoccuring nightmares and dreams i've always had. I have always thought I may be an old soul. or lets say middle aged soul. i'm 27, but no matter where i go, or what attempts i make, i end up with people in their mid ages (talking to at a coffee shop, meetup group, all of my coworkers, etc). I'll have to use this as a starting point in some further exploring.
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