Happy Birthday Terry; I read all of your post and understand where you are coming from!
But that's because I am 79 and feel much the same way.
Enjoy your day.
Thoughts on turning 65 today
by Terry 73 Replies latest jw friends
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Vanderhoven7
Happy Birthday Terry!
Hey, I'll be joining you next month.
Yes, aging is adjusting to loss.
But then again, if you are living forever, the years we have left are but a drop in the bucket.
One year closer to graduation....is how I see it. The best is yet to come.
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Snoozy
Happy Birthday oldtimer... Hope you have a fun day. Congratulate yourself on making it this far and think of all the experiences you have to remember..and forget...and remember...and forget...
Snoozy..a just getting ready to live 70 years old next year..
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thetrueone
Happy Birhtday Terry from thetrueone
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designs
The 60s Rock! Congrats!!!
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Found Sheep
Terry I always read your words of wisdom!!
Happy Birthday
FS
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Deceived
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY!!!
65 is not so old, but thats because I am almost that age myself. We should embrace our maturity and wisdom as something special and you Sir certainly deserve it.
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finally awake
Happy Birthday! Getting older stinks, but it's better than the alternative.
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NVR2L8
Happy birthday Terry.
I share many of the thoughts you expressed in your OP. I turned 57 last month, an age I believed I would never reach, that's what I was taught from my enfancy. Then I woke up only to realize that I had grown old with a very few years left to live. Today I no longer want to waste any of the valuable days, hours or minutes I have left to the pursuit of a false hope that sucked away 50 years of my life. All that matters now is to love and care for my immediate family...if they let me, because they still believe the lie and they have little time left for me. At the risk of sounding selfish, the freedom regained is priceless - with or without them.
BTW - for the first time everit was great to accept birthday wishes without feeling uncomfortable or needing to explain why JWs don't celebrate their birthday...
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Band on the Run
I turned 60 this past August.My mind is occupied by contradictory terms. When I was younger, I ried to imagine this age but failed short b/c it was alien to my experience. Being a true child of the 60s was always an honor. People ten years older were the scary pioneers. The Beatles forged a path as older brother types. When I entered law, there were few women but many more than ten years before. I reaped the benefits of the hard work and angst that slightly older people experienced.
What thing that strikes me is the accumulation of wisdom. Compared to my earlier days, I can jump between academic disciplines and see a much larger picture. Yet society does not value such wisdom. Knowing most of the current events of my lifetime, I see patterns that young people cannot being to understand.
Sadly, I notice that I freqeuntly give history or analystic lectures to young people. A recent incident was hilarious. My group almost deified Bob Dylan. While my hair was being styled, I referred to a contemporary figure as Dylanesque. She nad no idea what I meant. I said that i was sorry for a dated reference. I was referring to Bob Dylan, the great American poet, folk singers, and social protestor. I explained his civil rights and peace work. His alighnment with the Beatles. She never heard of Bob Dylan. How can anyone not know Bob Dylan, the legend of mythical proportions. My generation knew all the lines to this songs. I saw him at Bangladesh Concert with Geo. Harrison. People screamed and demanded requests. I could not settle on a single song. A man in my section settled the problem by yelling, "JUst stand there." Every screamed assent and starting jumping up and down on the concrete so the Garden almost seemed to break. I felt old but blessed to know Dylan.
Major historical events - the Iranian hostages, Barishnkov, Lennonls murder. They know nothing. Yet I believe I learned the history of my parents' generation.
Coming to terms with death is very difficult. I find an increased sense of purpose to experience life to the fullest. It does seem strange about widsom and the ability to syntheize wide areas of displine. Just as you seem to have mastery over these affairs, society spits you out. Next, you die. I feel 15-20 years younger than my actual age.
