What would you have done without the WT?

by expatbrit 32 Replies latest jw friends

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  expatbrit

  Imagine that you had never heard of the Watchtower. Imagine that your life and that of your families had never been influenced by WT teachings.

  I know for a fact that the WT's philosophy on further education contributed to my not achieving what I should have at school. This is not to shirk the responsibility for my grades; ultimately they were my responsibility. And it wasn't entirely the WT, beer and girls were constant distractions!

  But, why try at school when you know that university education is frowned upon by your family and friends? Why strive at your education when you are lead to believe it is all ultimately worthless and transient?

  Now, of course, I mourn lost opportunities. I do have a comfortable life and a moderately successful business, and I'm grateful for these. Yet, what if I had not been a JW kid? What if I had striven for university and a degree in a subject I loved? What if...?

  How would your life have turned out? What would you have accomplished or achieved if the WT had not held you back? Would you have had a different career and course of life?

  Alternatively, maybe the WT actually saved you from alcohol or drugs. Would you perhaps have been worse off without your association with the JW's?

  Looking forward to your viewpoints!

  Expatbrit.
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  dark clouds

  allow me to share to this expatbrit:
  when i was four the "sister" that took care of me while my mother worked must have been really caught up with the end coming in 75. until this day i remember her telling me one morning as we walked to school to drop off her son that the chances of me ever seeing high school or for that matter completing it were probably non existent.
  needless to say those words stayed with me throughout my education, causing my effort to be minimal, yet ironically i mainted honors, without effort i always managed to stay at the top of my class, to this day i wonder what would have happened if would have actualy tried to be at the top of my class.
  imagine that, i guess its accepted to not lie to your kids about santa claus but its ok to give them false hope and shatter their ambition and their drive to want to succeed, while simultaneously instilling an aloofness to the world while biasing their opinions.
  i see that the watchtower has their priorities in the right place by attempting to keep their followers ignorant.
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  normie67

  OOOOOweeeee ..touched a nerve..normie was in the Dramas that put negative light onhigher education.................still Pi$$ed about it.....

  normie
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  patio34

  Well probably would still be married and would not have had to raise four children in poverty by myself. Would have encouraged said kids to do well in school and go to college, but instead tried to goad them into jw interests first. Didn't have help such as sports teams, scouts, etc. And of course, no help from the jws--just do more, do more. Now it's the grandkids to worry about. All if I had never gotten involved with the WTS. BUT it's never too late to recover and help others to do the same!
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  RedhorseWoman

  This, surprisingly enough, is a very difficult question to answer. I have always loved animals, and without trying I did very well at school. I'm sure that given the chance, I would have studied to be a veterinarian.

  I also enjoyed writing and art, but these things were strongly discouraged, so I focused on "Kingdom interests".

  I tend to be a pragmatist, however, and simply deal as best I can with the cards I've been dealt. Since I was not allowed to entertain any dreams for the future as a child (other than pioneering), it's difficult now to put myself back in that position and try to imagine what if.

  I didn't so much suppress my dreams, as alter them to fit the circumstances. Since leaving (and especially since breaking the bonds that remained even after leaving), I have been trying to make up for lost time...but there are so many avenues to explore.

  I've taken flute lessons, taught myself natural healing and training techniques for animals that I use all the time, have taken a course in writing literature for children, and at the moment am exploring various spiritual paths that were always forbidden to me.

  There is so much to learn....so much to experience...it's difficult to quantify it.
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  ozziepost

  G'day expatbrit,

  Don't worry, be happy.

  For myself, je ne regret rien, or something like that. The thing is that all of life's experiences mould us in one way or another. We wouldn't be the people we are today, older and wiser, if it weren't for what we were previously doing.

  At times we experienced heartache, but other times were happy. We can easily forget that. Remember the pleasant memories of volunteering on food service at the assemblies?

  Now we have the time to take stock of our lives, to smell the roses and enjoy other things in God's Creation. In previous times we may not have had the time to do those things. the organisation keeps people so busy that they don't have time to take stock, to have time 'for themselves'. But now that has changed. Thank God for that!

  Cheers,

  ozzie
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  mommy

  Great queston.
  I agree with Redhorsewoman(she is a Goddess, so I must) I remember a time especially in school when they asked us what we were gonna be when we grow up, an I thought of hundreds of different things. Unfortunatly none of them "fit" in the jw lifestyle. I also just gave up on my studies in the last few years, because I knew as soon as I turned 16 I would be taken out of school, as all my sisters before me. I never realized I would one day get out and really have to figure out what I wanted to be.
  I did go on to school but I was 22 and by then had 2 children, I would have much rather already went through school before I had them, because I had to take away from them for studies. I would like to go back and become a doctor, still trying to figure that one out
  Rhw,
  There was recently an article in my local paper about a woman who also does healing touch with animals. It seems there are very few of you out there. But she dedicates her time at a zoo and gave some really great stories. Where did you learn to do it?
  wendy
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  RedhorseWoman

  There was recently an article in my local paper about a woman who also does healing touch with animals. It seems there are very few of you out there. But she dedicates her time at a zoo and gave some really great stories. Where did you learn to do it?

  Wendy, I never actually "learned" to do this...it was just there. This was one of those bugaboos that made me feel that I was somehow "consorting with demons" while I was a JW. There were things that I "knew" and things that would happen without my trying. I constantly tried to suppress any "abilities" or "knowledge" that didn't fit the JW dictates.

  I discovered that the healing worked when one of my cats got sick. Traditional methods did nothing, and I wanted to try to find something to help. I stumbled across some info on Reiki and the Healing touch, and I just figured I would give it a shot. It worked, and I've used it since.
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  unanswered

  expat-interesting question. it's hard to say where i'd be w/out the WT, it was all i ever knew. i feel there are a lot of things i missed out on, but i try not to think about that to much-it just makes me mad. instead i try to be thankful that i got out by the time i did-before i raised a family and while i still had(have) a few years of being young left. now i can make my own mistakes:)
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  rob

  What would I have done without the WT? I would have taken the college scholarship that I had been awarded. I would not have married the first Witness doof that came around simply to thwart my mother's pressure to pioneer. My only sibling may not have committed suicide because at the time psych help was "frowned upon." I may have been spared being on an antipressant because of the stress of said doof running off with a married co-worker and the ensuing anguish of having to wait for weeks and weeks in silence while judicial committee decided what to do with him. Imay not have had to endure the tirades of the local PO in front of my children referring to me as a whore because I years later fell in love with a beautiful non-Witness man. I got to watch in horror while that same PO da'd me without any letter or any proof of wrongdoing on my part. Finally I get to enjoy being estranged from beloved family members.

  Thanks WT!