There was some good that came out of it...
But, yes, a lot of it was a waste of time and feeling like crap for no reason...
Do you consider your time as a JW wasted time??
by karter 46 Replies latest jw experiences
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BurnTheShips
Reading some of the comments here, it seems that, like everything else in life, the WT is not all bad (or all good).
During my youth I was kept on the straight and narrow.
I met my beautiful wife.
I have a unique perspective on life.
I have regretted the wasted years in the past, but that just breeds bitterness.
No regrets!
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mkr32208
No, if I hadn't been a witness I would never had met my wife so no not really...
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DocBob
Absolutely not! It would have been wasted if I had wasted it. It would have been wasted if I had not learned from it. The waste of that time should end when we leave and move on. We should take and cherish whatever was good and true and learn from whatever wasn't.
Besides, If I had never been a JW, I could never have been an 'apostate' and wouldn't be here.
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Hermano
Mostly a waste of time. A lot of wasted energy too, trying to live up to impossible or just stupid standards. Yeah, some experienced gained. But one can say that about almost any difficult/challenging experience one goes through: a divorce, losing money in the stock market, serving in the military. As someone born in the trooth who got out at about 27 years old, any of the other previously mentioned challenging situations would have yielded experience gained in a much shorter time frame. So bottom line, gained some experienced, but not enough to justify the time lost. I DO NOT recommend it to any of my friends.
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parakeet
99% wasted time. The remaining 1% taught me that the trauma of being a JW has the potential to awaken the victim to the amazing fact of our existence in an amazing universe.
Of course, a serious illness or incarceration for a crime can also teach the same thing. I'm not sure which of the three is the worst. -
R.F.
I don't consider it a waste of time overall. Sure, the amount of time put into pioneering could've been used better elsewhere, but even all that magazine salesman work did me alot of good when it comes to my personality, such as helping me be a more 'people person'. Plus, dealing with many in the congregation, along with the cold calling door to door work helped me devolop a more thicker skin so to speak.
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Gayle
I consider it wasted otherwise I would have to recommend it, no way! You don't smoke, great, all of my non-JW friends don't smoke. A good speaker, great, I think that was your inclination anyway, I was a JW, giving (sister) talks for years even at assemblies, assigned morning text comments at Bethel, I don't still consider myself a good speaker anyway. Married a great person within JWs, wonderful,,please give all the credit to that individual and not JWs (some of us were not that 'lucky'). I give no credit to the JW organization for yours & mine plusses, achievements, (valuable) knowledge, only had to spend time having to unravel so much 'junk'.
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ex-nj-jw
Yes, it was a waste of time. But I didn't allow it to consume me. I got out at age 18 after being raised in, I took control of MY life and did what I had to do to be the person I am today in spite of the cult I was raised in.
So although it was a waste of my childhood years that I'll never get back, I don't wallow in it because I've had a damn good life, my children are healthy, strong, independant young men. My husband and I are still together after 25 years of being together. I have an awesome career, awesome friends and family and we are all healthy.
What more can you ask for? And if there is something else, just go out and do whatever you have to do to obtain it! Don't let your past stand in your way of a happy future, that's up to you imo.
The only wish I have that I have no control over is my oldest son. I wish we had a relationship, I wish I could hug him, laugh with him, cry with him, give him adivse and listen to his worries and concerns and be there to help him emotionally. And maybe one day I will be able to just that, I will never give up on him.
nj
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Blueblades
Yes and No. YES. 33 years slaving for the society reaching out for that infamous "CARROT" any day now, very near, soon and etc.not preparing for the retirement years and so forth.
NO. The family says that it was a learning experience that we would of never otherwise had about religion, God etc.
My family is still intact as we all got out together.
For the many others who suffered so much, i.e. Child Abuse, Wrongful Death because of the Blood Doctrine, Disfellowshippings, Shunnings, Divorce, Separations, Sexual Issues in the bedroom, on and on to this very day, they may say, what a waste of the precious years of life that they experienced as captives of a concept that they believed was the truth.
Blueblades