FayeDunaway has a very valuable point there. Once you look into the background of the jw cult, you see it for what it is. A man-made scam.
I left way before the internet days so my research consisted of a few books in the Religion section of the library. The fact that I was doing that research was a clear indication that I felt there was something very wrong with that "religion". I felt that from about age 15 and over the next few years I became 100% convinced that the cult was full of sh**.
So when I left at age 20, I felt no guilt at jumping right into the worldly life because I knew those simple joys were not wrong. Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, singing the anthem, playing sports, sleeping in on the weekends, clubbing, swearing, making my own true friends who did all of that and more.
No guilt but the ties are still there today, 36 years later, because my 88 year old mother is still in and will die in it. She shunned me for a few years but after that, I forged a civil but cool relationship with her. Out of obligation, I suppose. I avoid talking about her cult because that's the fastest way to get her yabbering on about her jehoohah and how I need to return, blah blah blah. I change the subject, or end the call. Even after she dies, that tie will still be there because I'll look back and see that I didn't have the same close, loving relationship my friends and family have with their mothers. And I will forever look back at the early years of my life and see the deprivations and bizarreness of it, thanks to the cult.
I wouldn't worry if you don't feel you're ever totally over it. It's not surprising because face it, the cult damages us.