Exactly!!

I felt inspired to write one of my first direct to Medium essays in late 2020 ( https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/eternal-soul-properly-defined-fe7a93e534f8 ) when I read a piece that criticized people who advise to search for Self and tried to bolster his case by pointing out that Buddhism says there is no permanent self / soul. Re-reading my essay now, I wish it had been better organized and I wish I hadn't said Buddhism does believe in souls when they all say they do not (but I believe in substance they actually do)...anyway I say in my essay:

"Destiny and free-will are not mutually exclusive. Soul contracts do not script our entire lives. Certain major events are written, but for the most part, soul contracts present a series of improvisational scripts and thus leave much room for free will — otherwise there would not be challenges to test us, which challenges will repeat in some fashion, to see if we have learned. Learning has two levels — the learn not to repeat mistakes is the human level — the soul level learning is more important — it is this upon which we will be assessed in Heaven.

At the end of each lifetime, the soul returns to Heaven changed from the soul that incarnated and sparked this life. My soul came here with the imprint of all 17,042 previous incarnations and it shall return with the addition, for better or worse, of my imprint. Thus I, not just my soul, have an afterlife."

PS: Now that I've read through more of your article, I see we reached the same conclusion about Buddhism and its alleged disbelief in souls--that it is a misunderstanding.