Do You Remember...

Undecided

Hi All,

I just got home from a dinner sponsored by the senior citizens counsel, an organization funded by the taxes of our city and county. They have many programs to benefit the senior people in our area. I hate to admit it but I qualify.(age wise) My brother and I went together.

There were 75 people there, about half were white and half black. We had a great time and everyone seemed happy and contented. I felt right at home.

This would not have been the case had I still been in the borg. Do you remember the feeling you had when you thought they were all worldly people, guided by the devil? You felt out of place, as if they were not real humans with feelings of love and honesty. You felt they were just waiting to be destroyed at the big A.

I am so happy to be able to mingle with people and enjoy their company, to feel the bond of humanity, to feel a closeness that I never had with people before. Life is so much more enjoyable when you can accept people as friends.

Of course I know all people arn't likable, but there are so many that are. I'm going to enjoy people as long as I live, from here till death.

By the way, I won a trophy for the bowler with the highest average in the senior league. This dinner was to present awards to the seniors for participation and achievements in sports and other activities.

It's funny, in my mind I don't feel like a senior!!! But sometimes my body reminds me.

Happy days,

Ken P.

Gopher

Ken,

I know the feeling so well, that everyone outside the Borg was living on borrowed time, doomed, and evil. How often did we have 1 Corinthians 15:33 pounded into our skulls, "Bad associations spoil useful habits", (bad associates being defined as all who didn't share our exact "hope")???

I have developed a walking impairment over the past year, causing me to use a cane. I found so many people who go WAY out of their way to be so helpful. (This runs contrary to the Borg's teaching that most folks outside the JW comprise the essence of cruelty.)

Additionally, since leaving the Borg I have gained my DA'd sister & her 'worldly' family, and they are so wonderful.

It felt strange, taking the risk to make new (non-JW) friends at first. But it has been SO WELL WORTH IT!

Congratulations on your bowling award, BTW!

Gopher, enjoying the fresh air

unanswered

undecided-i definitely remember that feeling of scorn towards others. how sick! feels good to be unfettered, doesn't it?-nate:)

TMS

a snippet from the remarks of Undecided:

"I am so happy to be able to mingle with people and enjoy their company, to feel the bond of humanity, to feel a closeness that I never had with people before. Life is so much more enjoyable when you can accept people as friends."
______________________________________________________________________

This senior can identify with those remarks. From the man at the liquor store to the kids swimming near the boat launch, it seems incredibly easy to connect with everyone now that we're not divided as "sheep and goats". LOL Many in this forum have used the word freedom, but I feel such a lacksadaisical nonchalance about everything, it's pathetic. All I want to do is putter across the lake, set up my grill, eat my jalapeno-cheddar sausage, drink my Tecate and watch the sun go down. Did I say my wife and poodle are with me? The poodle is chasing butterflys on the beach and my wife is splitting the last hot dog with me.

TMS

Had Enough

Hello Undecided:

Congratulations on your bowling award.. Isn't it just great to be able to receive an earned award without feeling guilty that you are drawing undue attention to yourself? I am just so thankful that I can experience life as it should be....enjoyed and rewarded for any contribution you have made or any accomplishment you have reached through your own efforts.

Hi Gopher:

As so often happens, you have echoed my exact feelings.

The "bad associations" scripture is so overdone and misapplied, I cringe everytime I hear it. And for any JWs reading this, that is not due to a guilty feeling, rather just the feeling of exasperation due to a misapplied thought, much like someone trying to play a beautiful piece of music and constantly hitting one wrong note....spoils the whole effect.

I am so glad to join you Gopher, in feeling the joy of making new (non-JW) friends here...yes it is so well worth it.

Had Enough

larc

Ain't nice to find out people are nice! When I left, I had a suspicion of others bordering on parania. It took awhile for me to ovrercome this, but eventually, I found some real good people out there.

Regarding age, I like this saying: "Inside of every old person, is a young person that wondered what happened." I am older now, but my mind and my persona is still young. Go figure.

COMF

Congratulations on that trophy, Ken! That oughta be proof enough that you've still got it.

Where I work, a group of about five of us regularly get together on Fridays and leave early to go take in a movie. So far, I've gone with them to see The Mummy II and Enemy at the Gates (I only recently got invited to join in). Afterward we go to a nearby steakhouse, where they order up a bottle or two of merlot and one of us (not a native Texan) orders a Manhattan. My supervisor pulls out a handful of Cuban cigars, and most of the guys light up and puff away. After about half an hour to fortyfive minutes, we're ready to order. For me, it's six-ounce tenderloin, medium rare. Fabulous salad bar; amazing, what-all they have on there. And Ken, I want you to know, that slab of scorched bovine flesh is about 1 1/4 inches thick, and running with warm juice, and is some of the most heavenly poison the world has ever known.

So, we sit at the table and talk both business and pleasure. A lot of good-natured laughter goes on. I don't drink alcohol, and I don't smoke, but they accept that fact as easily and unjudgingly as they accept the fact that one, and probably two, of the guys in the group are gay. Hey... whatever, man.

I haven't enjoyed this kind of fellowship since I was a teenager. Loving it! I know what you mean about "worldly folks," man.

COMF

ozziepost

G'day Ken,

I've found it true too where you said

Do you remember the feeling you had when you thought they were all worldly people, guided by the devil? You felt out of place, as if they were not real humans with feelings of love and honesty.

Mrs Ozzie and I have found that those same people are actually "nice". Much nicer than we were used to Borg-wise. It makes me feel inadequate. It's hard for me to be nice. I was trained to be the super-efficient elder-type. It's kinda 'nice' really; this enjoying Christian freedom. Now we're learning what it means to be 'true' Christians

Cheers,
Ozzie

Freedom is not having to wear a tie.

Tina

Hi Ken!!
WTG!! It was so nice to read your psotive experience. Yes,there are many nice people out 'there' contrary to what was driven into our mind.
I get together with some fellow humanists from time to time. DO the coffee shop thing. It's nice to sit back relax talk and just be ME! lol Especially after all the years I was trying so hard to be something I wasn't. hugs,Tina

Roamingfeline

I well remember the feeling of "They're all gonna die soon". I'm so glad it wasn't true, because I never dropped my "worldly" friends when I went into the Org. I kept both. But I was always marked for it. Now I'm so glad I did keep 'em!

And the ones I've met here in Australia are very dear. I'll really miss 'em while we're in the USA next year.

RCat

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