How do you CHALLENGE yourself? Self-Improvement topic

by Terry 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  moshe

  I'm building a boat for the first time, my wife named it, the SS Minnow II

  I'ts a shantyboat- no plans, just my own ideas. I love learning new things.

  My physical challenge for this year is to climb a mountain 5000ft tall or taller.
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  cofty

  I always need a new challenge. Currently teaching mysalf Adobe Creative Suite.

  Previous challenges include, memory techniques, knots, star identification, birds (feathered kind), wildflowers, HTML/CSS, family history and more.

  I reckon if I live to be 100 I will be learning something new when I finally go.
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  Paralipomenon

  Ever try to go a day doing everything with your non-dominant hand?

  It can be fun unless you have some forms that need signing. :)
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  3rdgen

  Terry, thanks for sending this message incouraging self-improvement. It's only been a few months since I left the WT$ feeling like a worthless piece of sh!t. It takes work to reframe my thoughts and deal with the depression that sets in after realizing my whole life was wasted.
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  Azazel

  Thanks for sharing that piece of knowledge from your treasure house Terry.

  I make it a habit to do what i call "Self Improvement Wednesday" where my aim is to learn something new. Like you i had a really sharp Grandparent who was interested in educating me. She was a JW but in reflection she was a fader and more Church of England than JW i think.

  She got me to learn all the train stations in Sydney when we would travel and got me to recite all the Kings and Queens of English History fromm 1000AD+.

  Im learning to read Koine Greek and i really enjoy that. Just studying John chapter 1 in greek has opened my eyes to the WTS terrible and misleading Bible translative skills.

  Ive started to learn the history of China and that is facinating. I saw the Terracotta Warriors at an exhibition back in the 80's and they planted a seed to know more.

  I had always wanted to be a History teacher and my grandmother encouraged that with me BUT my parents were No do a trade like your brothers and be more usefull to the society. Thats the last thing the WTS wants is people teaching history as it would uncover the inconveinent truth.

  You should try and learn something new everyday.

  AZ
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  Band on the Run

  I tend to over self-improve. Growing up with an abusive JW father, the only kindness I received was for good grades. I wasn't allowed to do extracurricular activites until he died. IN 5th grade, I taught myself to type from a book. Someplace I saw a list of books to read while in high school to better prepare for college. With no outside prodding, I started reading compulsively against time. No one else knew about it. Oh, the vocabularly lists I studied.

  Briefly, I had almost no fun. I hated my H/H. Run, run, flee, flee - College would cure all my problems. I never knew anyone who did attend college. The teachers went to a teacher's college which we knew was a joke. They were not true college graduates. The transiton to college was utter agony.

  Perfectionism prevents you from having a large imprint on the world. Love should have been bestowed b/c I was inherent loveable, not b/c I was a trained seal parroting info. It wasn't until college that I had competition. I loved it.

  Since my illness knocked the stuffing out of me, I would like some of my old drive back. Now I see a balanced lifestyle as important. When I worked for an elite law firm, they assumed I knew certain facts. They also wanted an engaging personality who could small talk about the theatre, opera, or vacations. Also, bar exam review said you can only know certain items in your brain. It is more important to learn how to research items and to ask hard questions thant memorize everything.

  My feelings are mixed. I weep for the child that was the trained seal. On the other hand, I love manipulating info. My drive let me smash through class and other negative statistics. Much better to be driven than to have no passion. I still want to seize the world rather than being a passive human. All the time I spent at meetings, not being allowed to be with worldly people might have supplied balance. College was part of a process, not any solution.