by Nosferatu 18 Replies latest jw friends
After I quit going to meetings, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays felt really strange. It was so weird having all this time to myself that I never had before. It took about 1-2 years for me to fully adjust to this new found free time.
Anyone else experience this?
Me too!!
I would find myself getting really anxious about an hour before the meetings normally started. Kept on thinking that there was someplace I needed to be! LOL
It stopped after a year or so.
Dams
I don't know it's getting pretty easy for me . Thursday night is still a little strange felling like I need to be somewhere else . I think we may join the gym and have that night as a work out time. Sunday mornings I now do my cleaning job so I can enjoy the afternoons relaxing . And book study night we found a TV show we like, so yeah we're set.
It seemed very strange at first, not to have that routine every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, but I am getting more used to it now. I think making a complete break by da'ing helped me to do that, I didn't fade for long.
At the time we left, we had 3 small kids.. ages 5, 3 and 4 months.. so I was so busy I didn't have time to think much about missing meetings. I do remember though a feeling of total peace and bliss that I didn't have to plan nap time and meals around meeting time.
We started out by intentionally finding something else to do on meeting nights. Once they told us we no longer Qualified™ to have the Book Study™ in our house, we started taking the kids on early evening outings to the park, to feed the ducks, to rent a movie, etc. It was more fun than having to clean the house before AND after the Book Study™ and better than any freaking after the Book Study™ "treat night". It went much the same way for the Thursday night and Sunday meetings as well, although a little more gradually.
Thursday night used to be the night when Carleton U aired some awesome courses on TV - I learned a great deal about Social Psychology and group dynamics once I quit going to the meeting. Talk about having lightbulb moments!
To me it was no problem finding other things to do and it was a relief not going in that boring and cold environment. Never really had many friends there so I was not missing them.
I left so gradually it was virtually painless. The first to go was the Tues. book study. Then the Thurs. meetings--so boring, so glad to get rid of them. Then the Watchtower study; I'd stay for the talk but leave right afterward. That went on for a few months; then I dropped the talk as well. Never missed 'em and they didn't miss me.
that was just heaven to me. could go out or just stay in and veg. no more enforced boredom sessions....blisss
I felt like I had escaped from prison, fled to utopia and had been pardoned of my crimes.
