PARADISE!
LIVE FOREVER!
As JW's we were taught that things, money, posessions, cannot make you HAPPY™. Incredibly, they were right.
But I bet you won't be surprised about what they left out on the subject of HAPPINESS™!
Remember, you were taught that HAPPINESS™ comes from "serving Jehovah". That is why you can be HAPPY™ by reveling in your poverty as you knock on doors and place literature with the ever changing dogmatic opinions of the Governing Body.
When JW's leave that cult, we all do this because, let's face it, we weren't happy. Not their version of HAPPINESS™. The real happy.
You see, JW's have it all wrong. (not a surprise here, I realize) JW's actually search for the unhappy, to sell their self serving version of HAPPINESS™. That version doesn't really involve your personal happiness (the real kind) in any way.
JW's, or I should say, the GB, try so hard to tell you that people with homes, cars, jobs, and money are not really HAPPY™. Here's why, even if they are happy (the real kind) JEHOVAH IS GOING TO KILL THEM!!
So yeah, that makes sense. And we always used to look at that people at the height of our own belief and think, "There go a few more dead people walking. Look at how happy they are now. We are HAPPY™! Because we serve YHWH in abject poverty.... Just like the GB taught us how to be HAPPY™"
The whole point is, no one (that I know of anyway) leaves JW's and instantly understands the subject, esp considering the amount of brainwashing that took place.
I think it's sad, and I accept this, that there are people who leave JW's and give up in some way. Or take a decade off, whatever. They figure that happiness (the real kind) isn't in the cards for them. (not true btw) It's tough. But you and I don't have to remain victims of this.
The secret of happiness is understanding that it is a road, not a destination. Sound trite?
Being Rich™ doesn't make you happy.
Being Poor™ doesn't make you happy.
Being an atheist/agnostic/theist/new ager™ doesnt' make you happy.
Being a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian/Tea Partier™ doesn't make you happy.
Watching CNN/FOX News/MSNBC™ doesn't make you happy.
It was never OUT THERE.
It really is IN YOU.
BEING happy is the key.
To "be" or not to "be", that is the question.
You don't have to put off your happiness until you get something external.
Being at peace with yourself, learning, discovering, and knowing yourself, and that YOU HAVE REAL VALUE is essential, and in my view, the first step to happiness.
If you have to start your life over, that's ok. You can be happy while building. The key is knowing where you are going. It doesn't matter if you haven't got their yet.
The only thing that can stop you is not starting.
Study happiness. READ!
Please? :)
Rant over.
