by d 13 Replies latest jw friends
Since leaving the JW's in 2008 I still struggle with a crisis of meaning at times. I feel like at times life has no set purpose and we are just empty humans floating in space.I struggled a lot with this when I left in 2008 but so no much any more.
I feel like my set version of reality was falling apart and I felt at times I was falling into a deep abyss.
Did any of you feel like that when you left the JW's?
Discuss.
Sometimes I do too, especially when one has no one to turn to except one's JW family. But remembering that their own reality is a mirage, a cacophony of deceits, illusions and half-truth just makes my reality seem more tangible. And having set new dreams for myself, now I often go about with more purpose, altho' at times I just crumble like an half-baked pie. But pls just get back on track anytime it happens, its our withdrawal symptoms of leaving the conc. opium of JW teachings!
Ive struggled with that frequently since learning TTATT.
Our lives revolved around what we believed to be true as taught by JWs. We made many compromises and based nearly all decisions on what we believed our future was going to be.
WRONG! * It was all (mostly) lies.
One cannot go back and change course. Nor even start over. You can only move on from the time and place in life you now find yourself. It's depressing if you dwell on it. It's taken time to realize and accept that what could have been, but did not happen, will not be. Those decisions and their results are indeed "cast in stone". They are part of our past -- but they are also part of our present and future situation in life.
THAT IS REALITY!
Doc
* EVIDENTLY, that is WE were wrong in our expectations! (Dont you just love that BS!)
Since leaving the JW's in 2008 I still struggle with a crisis of meaning at times. I feel like at times life has no set purpose and we are just empty humans floating in space.
Remember, the very same brain that got you into the phony religion and warped your life IS THE SAME BRAIN you have now.
Scary, huh?
You literally have to root out each and every core value YOU STILL POSSESS...because the "cause and effect" are still working on your thinking!
You have to patiently and carefully sift your definitions of words and concepts.
I'm not kidding. IF YOU DON'T you are still running the program Watchtower 2.0 in your mind and yet trying to escape from the inevitible results!
It took me 10 years before I even realized I was carrying the VERY SAME WATCHTOWER VALUES around that made me sick in the first place.
Only when I became aware of that did I really take steps to CHANGE my MIND. Yes, like you would change dirty clothes for clean clothes you
REMOVE the Watchtower values and put on FRESH practical non-superstitious values.
I use to take a 3x5 card and write a new definition each day and memorize it.
For example:
JUSTICE: getting what you deserve and not getting what you don't.
(This made me realize my concept of Divine Justice was backward! Jesus (innocent) got what he didn't deserve. Sinners (guilty) got what they didn't deserve.)
If you replace one core definition per day you will replace old values with practical, rational thinking.
This is called an existential crisis. You are human and have a bigger brain than most animals. Your brain is a rut digger.
Your brain tries to get you on a predictable path. Your brain gathers all sorts of clues, information, but tries to distort them to make you keep going in one continuous direction. Unfortunately, your early information is what other people tell you and it is wrong (for YOU) at least half the time.
Eric Berne (transactional analysis) described masturbation as the first existential crisis. It's something that is immensely rewarding and you are left with the decision of whether you should do it and when and how often you should do it.
To me the best way to deal with the existential crisis is to embrace it. Don't let religion, politics, organization, corportations define your purpose.
You are free to ask yourself "What do I want right NOW?" "What can I do to bring THAT want into reality?" Or you can ask yourself "What do I want to avoid right NOW?" " What can I do to avoid THAT" If you learn to make a habit of asking those questions it's as effective as prayer.
If you don't know what you really want you need to take a long Forest Gump walk until you do. Just don't sit down and wait. That stagnation will give other people the power to get you to do what they want.
There is only one ethical or moral thing to take into consideration. Make sure that what you want doesn't physically harm someone else.
You can even join a religion, political movement or whatever if it is something you really WANT to do and you don't surrender your own personal goal.
Only be concerned about truth and reality if you really want truth and reality.
Only be concerened about what others think about you if fame and reputation is something you have chosen.
Only be concerned about power if you want power.
Only be concerned about relaxation, sexual pleasure, or whatever if you choose it.
Living a life of your choosing is as good as it gets for you personally and society at large.
Reality?
Everything the mind calls “reality” – isn't.
It's just a concoction of drastically limited electrochemical impulses thrown against the wall of the mind to create an artificial picture. We think we are thinking when all we are doing is rearranging the bogus mess.
We call a leaf “green”; when actually it's the part of the the spectrum that is rejected. What makes up the leaf is anything but – green.
Everything else is just as fictitious; just crap on which is fabricated an illusion of self.
James Thomas reveals: Reality?
Everything the mind calls “reality” – isn't.
Walk off the edge of a tall building and what you encounter when you hit the ground may seem to the mind very "real".
(p.s. it IS.)
There are degrees of thinking and measuring and not all of them are 100% accurate.
Our "reality" is really our senses feeding a CONCEPT we call REALITY. But, the two aren't necessary 100% inaccurate.
How do we know that?
Look at our moon landing and robot on Mars. How inaccurate is that?
Our ideas of reality are really data. What you do with data is the proof of the "reality" pudding.
I feel like at times life has no set purpose and we are just empty humans floating in space.
You may be right.
I feel like my set version of reality was falling apart and I felt at times I was falling into a deep abyss.
Everyone who leaves the dubs feels the same way. We use different metaphors to describe it. Mine was a raft floating on the ocean with no land in sight.
Imagine a songbird caged since a chick and then let loose. It's where it should be, but at first it will feel bewildered.
This feeling will eventually leave you. Cherish it -- you'll never have such a sense of freedom again.
Thank you guys for advice it has helped me out a lot. I am reading more on critcal thinking ans science to help me with my crisis of meaning. I am still skeptical of joining any type of group.I feel that groups only serve to take away individuaity
Hi d. Some turn to humanism for meaning if they lose all belief in a supernatural source, for meaning. However I personally would find that hollow as it pertains only to human made purpose. For some that works but I would look deeper into the metaphysical and supernatural domains of existence for some answers for the question of purpose.
