by JH 25 Replies latest jw friends
It didn't stress me to get up in front of the congregation, I had parts every week on the service meeting, was ministry school servant, conducted the WT study, was a congregation BS conductor and the PO. I just got tired of having to do all that stuff and just quit, moved away and when I came back didn't accept any of that stuff again, married a worldly woman and have enjoyed life ever since.
Ken P.
Yeah, I was stressed out but most of it came from "sitting on the fence" , pretending to be a good little dub. I always detested field service as I was very shy and terrified of dogs. But meetings and FS became sheer torture once I knew I would leave the witnesses eventually.
I was also very afraid of getting found out since I was leading somewhat of a double life. Came close on many occasions but never was DF'ed or even reproved as there were never two witnesses just constant tattling by my so-called friends.
Leaving was even more stressful than being in because my mother was devastated and I had to deal with that; the guilt trips and the shunning.
During this time I started college full-time while working about 30 hours per week. Major stress!
Eva
Even as a good JW, I didn't join the TMS because speaking in front of groups made me nervous. Field Service stressed me out. Other aspects made me feel inadequate, but I wouldn't say I was stressed. since I've been on the fringes, I used to get stressed about being asked to go out in FS. Now, I'm a bit more comfortable saying I'm inactive since nobody has asked me why.
I used to hate the time pressure of attending meetings, getting ready for the meetings, breaking up an entire weekend with field service on Saturday and meetings on Sunday. Projects at home always took a back burner because of a talk to prepare or project at the KH, and you couldn't get away from it all without feeling guilty.
The leadership at Brooklyn doesn't have a clue or they just don't care about the harm they've caused in the lives of JWs. I hope they start feeling the stress of being exposed as nothing more than ruthless warlords over trusting followers.
My most stressful time was knocking on doors. I always hoped no one would be home.
I would push the door bell but not hard enough to make it ring. I always had more not at homes
than anybody else. I would hate working with anyone who would knock if the bell did'nt work.
I was literally skin and bones at my lowest point as an elders's only teenage daughter. Just going into the Hall made my stomach churn and I fought nausea thru the entire meeting. I could barely eat, and the nausea and stomach pain took over, all my waking hours, not confined any more to just at meetings. I went on ulcer medications, and it helped some. Then, the terrible headaches began. I finally had to quit the TM school That helped some, as I was down to 94 lbs. But nothing relieved my stress related symptoms like moving out of my parents house and never going to another meeting! Wow, what a relief! My stomach is perfectly fine now. Occasionally, when work's stressful, my stomach cramps and I remember those dark days at the hall. I know now, my health problems were purely from stress. It's not normal for a 16 year old girl to develope ulcers like I did.
