This is a Q for my aged Friends ....?...60 plus ?

by smiddy3 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  smiddy3

  Over-all how would you view your life on this planet so far ? fair , good , satisfactory ,not so good ,terrible.,?

  Let me explain if I can ,I didn`t become a JW until my very late teens 19 and more likely close to 20.

  So I had a reasonable life outside of the influence of the religion before I got hooked.

  Even though I was in it for the best part of 30 plus years before I left ,I consider apart from the religion I have had a pretty good life .

  I have probably been out now for over 20 years ,and even in it we had a reasonable good life style overall.

  I know this hasn`t been the case with many of you people.

  If you care to share some of your experiences I`m sure many of us would like to hear it .

  My first couple of Congs.were in Melb.Aust. and were very conservative ,not much joy their.

  Having moved to S.E.Qld the congs.their were much more liberal and we fitted in quite well, going out for meals at resturants having a few ales along the way and going to each others house for get togethers etc ,

  And after leaving the religion I have made many friends at the few clubs i go to for socialising and having a couple of ales.,a few times a week .

  I will be 84 this year and i`m not looking forward to dying anytime soon ,how about you ?
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  punkofnice

  I get you.

  I've probably rabbited on about this many times. I was born in. Pioneer(tm), Min-serv(tm) finally Elder(tm).

  The missus left me with the kids because I didn't want to be a Jobot anymore. In fact an Elder(tm) that wanted to bang her, told her to leave me. He's now dead. She's now married to a Jobot with lots of money and a big home. He's a bit of a dimwit though. I say that impartially.

  When I think of what I could have done if I wasn't trapped in the filthy disgusting cult..................................

  I know people say, well. go and do it. It's never too late. I say to those people, thanks for your faith but you're not being realistic.

  It's no use going to get qualifications etc. Why would I? I retire next year, there's no point.

  I'll never be big in the music or art world because let's face facts honestly here; no one wants an old man doing these things unless you are already established from youth. Another thing, at least here in the UK, most successful people are from middle to upper class families. Inconvenient truth!

  I'm too old to find a meaningful partner that I can schtupf regularly, because they've either got no desire that way anymore even though I'm functioning well. I don't want 'just friends' at this time. We would both have shitty baggage too.

  Maybe it's my fault for not waking up from the vile Watchtower(tm) cult earlier. But there we are.

  I trot along in life hoping for better.

  Oh, what's the bloody point? as Kenneth Williams said.

  This bloke puts it best....

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOFJxANk5Ks
  
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  enoughisenough

  in spite of drama, trauma, abuse,cheating, slander, ( all related to witnesses ) I can't say it has been a bad life. I would say fair to middling...In spite of whatever happened, I felt like I had a safety net ( also related to witnesses ) The JW does add some structure and not all bad. I can't say life would have been better without the JW, but different. I have been homeless, but not without food, clothing, and shelter. That is a good thing. I wish I had woke up at least 25 years ago and I should have considering how awful I was being treated...I would have made better choices for my life. In a couple of weeks I will be 68...you who are younger, just be glad you woke us sooner. ( I want to write a book someday--but as long as I am able to and have work I must work- if I were to start the book, I wouldn't get anything else done until I finished it. ( at least I am not throwing hard earned money to the cult now! ) I feel blessed to have a house of peace. ( the thing that I feel may be missing now is a safety net of people, but then I do believe that God exists and that he cares, that he has provided and will continue to. Here is one big impact that happened (for good?) because of the witnesses. When I was a teenager I went to work at a small business owned by a witness, learned the trade and have supported myself every since by starting my own business and developing more skills -this is a small business that beats minimum wage but not welfare! but I can work at my own pace, whereas, I don't consider my health able to withstand a job where I had to sit or stand for long periods of time. This would not have happened had not been a witness.( I will add that the worldly people I have met in my business have been some of the nicest people I have ever met)
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  LongHairGal

  SMIDDY3:

  From your posts, it seems you got through your JW experience relatively unscathed and are a happy and content person.. You also live down-under and were able to have job/career without trouble and interference from the religion.

  Here in the USA things are different. But, I am relatively happy/content even though it has been a rocky road. I was raised Catholic and had a ‘normal’ childhood, friends, etc. so, thank God I have happy memories and it was easier to ‘Fade’ from the Witnesses when the time was right. Not bragging.. but I am exceedingly thankful I never caved in to pressure from the JWs to quit my job and pioneer and am now retired.

  PUNKOFNICE:

  I totally agree that certain things have to be done in a timely fashion (like when a person is young enough) such as college education - in order for it to make a difference in somebody’s financial situation. Of course, an older person can still go to college for personal enrichment - but that’s not what we’re talking about here. You can also still show an interest in those other things you mentioned!

  It is also an inconvenient truth that most successful people are from middle to upper class. But, that shouldn’t ever stop a talented younger person from a less affluent situation from trying. Enjoy your upcoming retirement. 👍🏻
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  FedUpJW

  But, that shouldn’t ever stop a talented younger person from a less affluent situation from trying.

  So very true. I personally have a saying, "There is no shame in trying, and failing. The shame is not trying at all." In my years on this earth I have had the opportunity and fun of doing many things that most people would be afraid to try. Was I a blazing success at all of them? Probably not, but I sure had a helluva fun ride!

  As an avid musician I had the opportunity to rub elbows with a number of well known entertainers during the 70'-80's and 90's. As a lifelong horse owner I had the chance to raise and break cutting bred horses that are even now well known blood-lines in the show world. I had a very well paying secular career on top of that and was able to pay as I went and save a sizable amount that I can comfortably live off of now that I am "older" having lived through the better parts of seven decades and wanting to slow down to a fast trot instead of living at a run.

  I even ran the hamster wheel of Jw-ism for most of my life until I finally got FedUp with the hypocrisy and biased lies.

  I feel like I have lived more than one life time in my relatively few years on this planet, yet I have ZERO regrets, and when it comes time to take the eternal dirt nap I will go with a grin on my face knowing that I wasn't just alive, I LIVED!
  
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  Mum

  I'm 75 years old. I've had some hard times, but I realize I've been lucky overall.

  I spent my earliest years in Appalachia (Tennessee) with my grandparents. They were wonderful people. My mother was 16 when I was born, and married to my narcissistic father. I was lucky to live with my wonderful grandparents on a 12-acre farm. Like most Appalachians (hillbillies), we were poor by American standards.
  We lived in a 3-room log cabin chinked with mud, had no indoor plumbing, minimal electricity, and a shotgun.:-)

  For food, my grandparents planted all sorts of vegetables, and my grandfather plowed with a mule. My grandmother milked the cow every day as I watched. Then she churned butter. We had chickens which lay plenty of eggs. About once a week, my grandmother would catch a chicken, chop its head off on a tree stump, pluck it, singe it, and cook it. We had hogs, and a smoke house full of pork. In retrospect, I am very grateful to have had this experience.

  When I was 10, I had to go live with my parents, brother and sister in a 2-room apartment in Ohio. That was traumatic for me because my parents were quite different from my grandparents, and I was no longer an only child. I had to go to a big city school with city kids, which I did not find pleasant.

  About this time, I met the JW's. I posted my JW story on this forum. I was baptized at 17, the only one in my family to be that stupid at that time.

  At 21, I married a JW elder, 9 years older than me. I was not in love with him, and I deeply regret doing it. He was arrogant, uneducated, and had too many stupid rules.

  At 32, I moved to Nevada, where I had a cousin, leaving my JW husband behind. We had a daughter, so it was not easy. But I survived.

  After my daughter grew up, life got better. I finished college and had a decent life.
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  ozziepost

  I will be 84 this year and i`m not looking forward to dying anytime soon ,how about you ?

  Smiddy, owyergoinmate?

  i’m not quite as old as you but getting there.

  i lost my dear Mrs Ozzie three years ago next month and have had plenty of time to reflect.

  Still I’ve gotta say that with everything we’ve lived through since she passed (drought, Covid, La Nina ); now we’ve come through it all and can be thankful.

  I always said there were two things in my life, Mrs Ozzie and my church. I may not have Mrs Ozzie any longer but I do have my church.

  Mrs Ozzie and I sacrificed everything, I mean everything, for our acknowledging Christ as our Lord.

  On her passing to Glory, she was buried in the churchyard she grew to love as she had ministered there, a place overlooking Bethel whose clutches we both left some twenty something years prior.

  I believe we can say it has been a life well lived. Mistakes? Yes but nonetheless I’ve ‘done my job’. Was it my best? Can’t claim that, but my imperfect best perhaps.

  i am waiting to see my Maker where I will see Him ‘face to face’.

  What a blessed Lord!

  In the meantime we can enjoy each’s posting company.

  Cheers,

  Ozzie 🍷( shiraz appreciation class)
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  ozziepost

  @ Mum

  Good to see your name again. How are you?

  A time to reflect, eh?

  My very best wishes .

  Ozzie
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  TD

  No complaints, other than time slipping away much too quickly.

  Best wishes to everyone.
  
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  Mum

  Thank you, Ozzie. I'm very well to be an old lady. Hope you are, too.

  Best wishes to you as well.

  Mum