Yes, I remember when I used to be a size 8, what happened suddenly? I have no clue.

I'm more educated (Masters degree), happy, compassionate, kind, better able to set boundaries with people, improved listening, realized I'm too hard on myself, and better at saying "No."

I am not the bigoted hater that I was raised up to be in a "good christian home".

We are all in continual state of change...that is the nature of all living things. Our views and perspectives change over the years, influenced by events and experience, as well as more practical knowledge of life itself. Our opinions when younger are confined to a smaller number of parameters because our practical knowledge of life is limited by our inexperience. This of course expands as we live longer and accumulate first hand knowledge of life. As you point out, these changes happen over a lifetime and are only discernible in a retrospective such as you describe. I believe it’s healthy and normal to shift and reevaluate our values and beliefs as we get older, otherwise we would stagnate and become out of touch, a relic from the past. Although I will admit that it certainly does give us a jolt to sometimes remember how our younger selves acted or thought!

Yes, you spend your life learning lessons and just about the time you get things figured out you die. Go figure.

That's the way life is and it's very interesting. What you said about changes and how you notice them makes perfect sense to me. When I met some guys from the village where I grew up after not seeing them for over 20 years I noticed how the speech and attitude changed but those basic characteristics I've always known in them were still there, never lost. After being an expat for 15 years, definitely changes you. You get more accepting, less judgemental and you learn to appreciate not only what you are culturally speaking but also to appreciate what different cultures and people have to offer. Congratulations on bringing this subject, this is prone to have people changing different stories and experiences, which will make it interesting.

Yes, the age of innocence is lost to us, all we can do now is remember and sometimes long for its return.
Nostalgia grabs me, and I remember. I try to not dwell on it to much, but push forward and make new memories.

I feel totally free from fear of the unknown. Freedom from a "higher being" judging me every moment of every day.
I control the direction of my life ... without attributing or thanking anyone/thing for the bad or good . I Am Free.

I also found it odd about the song "Imagine," at first glance. Religious folks love it. I think it's because a lot of believers are taught this "brotherhood of man" concept in church and a lot of church leaders like to suggest that if we were all believers, an "organized religion" wouldn't be necessary. Organized religion is what John is directly railing against in the song. So, they're misinterpreting his meaning, but that's a fairly easy mistake to make.

If John had said, "Imagine we're all atheists," I think it'd be a markedly different story.

Freedom from all the bullshit one was fed by parents, peers, media and society in general. There is no better feeling of liberty than beeng free of all that shit.

When I read articles translating the Sumerian texts, Biblical stories written 2000 years before the Bible was written, I realized that "Anu," the Sumerian leader, was the prototype of the Hebrew "god" in the Bible.
I only felt profound relief.
It had been exhausting trying to ignore my increasing cognitive dissonance, to stay in denial and to keep "loving" such a misogynistic, racist, cruel, treacherous, bigoted, revengeful entity.

I haven't regretted or missed religion one iota. Instead of hanging with an arbitrary group of people brought together because of errors in thinking, I can choose to hang with fellow bird photographers, or hikers, and don't have to worry about going to hell over some random thing.

What I have sort of missed about church attendance..larger urban churches have subgroups that do fun things..church senior groups that go on trips and meets, single groups that go dancing, etc. I liked having a built in group of church musicians I could jam or play with, and I was usually tapped to write and produce plays; hard work, but fun.

I've become much more compassionate. More adventurous. But also more reclusive, less tolerant of bullshit, less comfortable with being alone. Seems contradictory.

Oh lord aging growing feeble losing my strength. made tons of mistakes in my life tons of them

i remember as a little kid 6 years old even, being fearful of some god who at a whim could sentence me to an eternity of pain and torment. such is Christianity. Can some one tell me how the romans developed Christianity

I recall my mom hating the song Imagine because it had people "imagine no heaven above us...no hell below us..." She thought it was a pro atheism, pro communism, pro one-world-government, devil-inspired song.

Of course, my mom never listened to secular music, she got her information from the men behind the pulpits. She also thought when Elvis Presley did a cover of "My Way," it was telling the story that he had turned his back to god and did things his way--he had chosen his path to Hell.

As for my younger self: I never imagined (tee hee) in a million years that I would be the atheist I am today. Like you, my journey was a long one. It took a little over a decade for me to go from believer to Atheist. I did not set out to shed my faith, beliefs. It was the result of one doubt building upon another and then one step away followed by another. Once my mind was opened--there was no going back; and in over fifteen years, I still have no desire to go back.

I now look back at my younger self and wish that I had come to certain realizations earlier in my life.

Was looking back at old poems and prose I had written the other day. I was able to edit them, which was something I never used to be able to do to when young. Read an article about the 3 stages of writing, which the U3A gave me, and realised I’ve at least reached the second stage
Also heard the line about Zappa and the Mothers in Smoke on the Water for the first time yesterday, how many times have I missed that? Lols.

The song "Imagine" is a very good example here. Most people do not see it but they love the song. Maybe they just imagine "no war" and don't see the rest.

Within myself I see too much change in too short a time. Some things just within the last 4 years or so. It is so uncanny. I see things differently now than when I was with my ex. Not anything that would have saved that union but things that might have slowed the inevitable down some. I see changes in outright belief of mine over time, and also some in just a short few years. I learn more and it is enlightening. Sometimes you realize that something you took as fact for a long time is not fact at all. Suddenly you wake up to this and wonder how you ever had it wrong to start with. Living alone allows me this and I see that life is quite an adventure and a development.

The song is not specifically about atheism. John Lennon once said that "Imagine" was, essentially, The Communist Manifesto.

My further love of learning and also peddling a bicycle all over the place.

I remember at a very young age, reading "The Emperor's New Clothes" and it resonating with me and my skepticism. That really never changed. I've always thought for myself, and though I tried to believe, I just couldn't, and didn't really see much good in the biblical stories as mythological moral fodder, which even some of the other myths we studied had some ethical value to them.

I guess the biggest change is when I had to become vocal and almost militant against neighbors and family members who were pre-judging me as a bad person because I didn't attend church. I really strengthened my spiritual views and philosophy in life.

If it wasn't for such fierce ugliness and opposition to my free-thinking values over a period of a few years, I wouldn't be the person I am today, assisting others in similar outcast scenarios, or out and out already free from religion.

I enjoy being a champion for humanistic values, and creating beautiful events that knock the socks off the believers in attendance. I am who I am today because of several "aha" moments and bouts of rebellion against what was expected of me that just seemed wrong for me.

What are we gonna do about Australia? this massive die off, man caused the suffering of all creatures. . Next will be Bangladesh

Change is the only constant in life, be it subtle slow change you do not notice, or abrupt sudden change you cannot help but notice.

Life is a wave you ride right up until it drags you across the coral to your death.

LIFE unto DEATH I say . . .

To rise and fall
Without the hands of gravity
To see it all
My hand to cover up my eyes
To move inside
Suspended by my sense of self
Along the line
The river flows and so do I

And Charles Atlas stands upon the beach
Upon his head and says
I will not fall
I will not fall
I will not fall

To live the groove
Is everything that I need
To see you move
When grace is just a simple wisdom
To feel
To live
To speak the truth at every junction
To be with you
And with myself and my suspicion

And Charles Atlas stands upon the beach
Upon his head and says
I will not fall
I will not fall
I will not fall

And Charles Atlas stands upon the beach
Upon his head and says
I will not fall
I will not fall
I will not fall

I, I, I, I, I will not fall

Right up until we do