Standing up for yourself,and deciding to follow your own path takes strength . You have to be strong especially if you were raised in a way of life that dictated so much of who you were . While being raised as a Jehovah's Witness I was taught to follow ,unquestionally follow .I was told to put others before myself ,serve,don't stand out ,don't be independent . Be molded and remain with in the group . To finally pull yourself from this life long concept of living is difficult .
I appreciate every personal story told here over the past ten yrs . I have learned so much here on this forum . I think we all have a deep inner strength to be free ,to live the life we truly want to live. This strength must be tapped into though, because it lays deep ,under many taught behaviors ,and unfortunate concepts that hold us back .
I am thankful this forum exists as a sounding board ,and a place to vent . I have also read stories or had comments made that really made me think .There were times, I admit, I felt sometimes comments stepped on my toes ,but I kept coming back and eventually learned there are more than one way to look at matters . Slowly my naive JW thinking began to peel away ,and I began using the critical thinking skills I never knew I had .
When I was a Witness there were so many times that I just rolled over, and did anything to please others no matter how I was affected . I often would just think I was wrong ,and everyone else was right . I felt like a doormat .
I find now I no longer have those old feelings (well most of the time) I think I have been helped immensely because of the diverse conversations on this forum .
If you are new on here give it some time . Realize it is a process of healing after you leave the Witness lifestyle. You will have saddness,anger ,moments of doubt even guilt . Over time you slowly can see good things too . Like just the pure joy of freedom of thought . Happiness instead of constant feelings of guilt over not doing enough .
Every circumstance is different .Learn to take what you can use and leave the rest . One size does not fit all ....but at least you now can find the fit or try on several things until the fit is comfortable .
I just felt like posting tonight hoping to encourage anyone out there struggling not to give up .Keep reading ,keep questioning until you feel you are in the place you want to be .
Thank you so much Simon for providing this avenue of discussion .