Post 1 of Mentallyfree31
Welcome Gutted. You have been given excellent advice by many of the posters here. I figured out that WT was a cult on December 19, 2009. I started to fade immediately, but slowly. Now it's four months later, and I have quit going completely, and will never go back. Here are a few suggestions from my experience.
(1) Read Crisis of Conscience and Steve Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control" immediately, as many others have already suggested.
(2) When the elders call to encourage, just tell them that you will see them at the next meeting. That usually ends the matter of encouragement right then and there.
(3) As JWFACTS suggested, do NOT make any decisions hastily. You have been in this cult for a while, so there is no rush. When you first discover these things, you naturally want to react immediately. But take your time. You need several months to deconstruct WT beliefs and process these emotions. Also, visit his website at http://www.jwfacts.com, as there is a ton of valuable information there.
(4) You may also very likely find yourself waking up thinking "but I know JW is the truth". This is natural, because it was so indoctrinated in us. They have told us this over and over and over at the meetings. It takes time to let go of these fears that have been put inside us.
(5) Leaving a cult is not easy. But as long as you keep your mouth shut and don't reveal anything to anybody - you remain in control of the situation.
(6) Focus on the positives - (a) you are leaving a cult (b) you are on a road to gaining your freedom back (c) you are taking back control of your life (d) you are still young, so you may very likely see some of your JW friends eventually figure things out and come knocking at your door wanting to resume a friendship
(7) Start making friends right away outside the organization. As suggested by others, this will help to make your transition a bit easier.
Welcome to the board Mentallyfree31........seen your great first post on another thread and wanted to give you your own welcome.
Think About It
