Embracing Yourself. Do You?

by prophecor 16 Replies latest jw friends

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  prophecor

  Have you ever met people who were so smart they were stupid? I mean, really smart folk, but just.....not quite all there......I'm guilty of being an Airhead. It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but I've learned to own and embrace many of my shortcomings. They actually help in rounding me off, making me more human. I don't believe in perfection, but it is something that I ascribe to, as a goal. However, at work as well as other areas in my life, these things can really get in the way.

  I have a tendency not to think outside of the box; paint myself into a corner, Figuratively speaking, mind you, ....although........People can usually sense, that, "There's something different about him" or "He's strange" How many times did we hear "you must be perfect because your Heavenly Father is perfect."? Or, was that just the WTB&TS putting thier own personal spin on a way to get us to do more, be more, without...well, anyway,.... , I think you get the point.

  The conditioning of being automatons has seeped itself into various aspects of my life. There are moments when its well recieved from being so rigid and inflexible, when it comes to documentation and detail, and there are other times when this type of stuff just completely gets in the way. Are you accepting the difficulty of being human with grace and acceptance? Or, does the pain of being human still have it's way, with you? Can you find reason to love yourself inspite of your flaws, failings, disapoinments and disillusionments? Is it, sometimes, wonderful to be human, or what?
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  R.Crusoe

  Really what they're saying is to question everything about your heart and mind and soul to the extent that if any of it feels good it must be satan tempting you. So the secret is to do nothing humans do just to confuse satan! By this stage you should be so confused yourself that you no longer know how to be human and like it enough to keep doing it!
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  Merry Magdalene

  Totally, Arthur. Everything you said. Totally.

  ~M.
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  nomoreguilt

  proph.....very good point. Inspite of all of my short comings, I am very much at peace with myself. I am not perfect, never aspired to be. I don't look for perfection in people as they would look at me for. Our daily lives lead us in many directions and causes us to expierence a wide variety of events. Each one impacts us in such a way so as to broaden our perspective of life.

  The wts has always had us looking at one another so as to pick the flea crap out of each other. This pulling splinters out each other's eyes does nothing to better OURSELVES individually. It took me quite awhile to overcome that habit personnaly. Now that I have, I am a very happy man. I accept others for face value and then try to look deeper into the real person before me. The wts has done immense damge to tens of thousands of people like you and I and the rest here at JWD.

  This is a place of great solace to me. I DO embrace myself and I live with purpose. To make myself a better man, and to help others whenever I can.

  NMG
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  jacethespace

  I think with me the watchtowers constant perfectionist influence has completley worn me down now at this stage in my life.It comes from being told to go to meetings after working all day and being totally tired out.From being pushed to stand on the platform and talk and talk and .... from being made to constantly analize yourself and wonder whether jehhoovah will be pleased with you.To go out on the ministroni in the rain and pretend to be happy.And to question every little thing in life.

  Talking of which im doing this now.

  Im starting to feel for once that its time for a bit of me time.
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  Gopher

  As I've gotten older and maybe a little wiser, I don't let people set standards for me any more. I set my own standards of what I can reasonably do, and I stretch to meet them. Sometimes I'm harder on myself than others are, sometimes easier. That doesn't matter (as long as I'm not hurting anyone else).

  What matters is that I am perfectly me, and comfortable with that. I will always strive to grow and do better, as long as I walk on this planet. I sometimes get angry with myself for mistakes made in the past, but that anger is slowly receding.

  It's the year 2008. My goal this year is to make THIS year the best it can be. I will not live in 2007 or any past year. I will plan for the future, but I will embrace each day as a "present". (That last sentiment is not entirely original, but it does make me enjoy life more fully each day.)
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  changeling

  To be a "good" witness you had to deny your uniqueness. They are all about "cookie cutter" people.

  This lifestyle is especially difficult if you tend to be a little "out there".

  You say you do not think "out side the box". I disagree, I think you do. Your problem is, someone else defined "the box" for you.

  Most people are concrete thinkers and take in info from outside sources. A minority of the population live by their intuition. Because they are in the minority, they sometimes get a bum wrap.

  Take this personality test at: humanmetrics.com. You may be surprised at the results.

  PM me and let me know the results.

  Embrace your uniqueness,

  changeling
• 

  hillbilly

  I have to be me..........nobody else wants the job.

  ~Hill
• 

  darkuncle29

  I try to every day. I set my standards for ME often too high, and get discouraged when I don't reach the mark. I very frequently don't feel good enough in many categories. I try hard to accept my limitations or faults without making that seem defeatist. Its a vicous circle.
• 

  Narkissos

  BRIAN:

  Look. You've got it all wrong.

  You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves. You're all individuals!

  FOLLOWERS:

  Yes, we're all individuals!

  BRIAN:

  You're all different!

  FOLLOWERS:

  Yes, we are all different!

  DENNIS:

  I'm not.

  ARTHUR:

  Shhhh.

  FOLLOWERS:

  Shh. Shhhh. Shhh.

  Seriously, doesn't any process of change (growth, education, etc.) involve exposure and reaction to others' (even though interiorised) patterns and standards, eventually resulting in something which will not fit anypattern or standard, i.e. our so-called "original identity" which are bound to "embrace," enthusiastically or reluctantly, and which we can only surpass by exposing ourselves again to something else?

  Can we live without some dialectics of "perfect" and "imperfect" (analogous to the grammatical sense of those words), implying both imaginary projection (who/what I am not and may never be, but tend to) and tautological recognition and acceptance (who/what I am)?

  The other day I came across a beautiful expression by Cioran (about the 17th-century French language, which he characterised as both formally "perfect" and lacking creativity). He spoke of a "fall into perfection".

  (The original) Narkissos embraced himself to death...