by Freedom rocks 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Hi everyone.
I know this thread has probably been covered in the past but I thought it would be nice for newbies and lurkers and just a reminder to those that left a while ago.
How has your life improved since leaving the cult? Are you happy? Have you made some amazing friends or maybe met an amazing partner in the world?
How has your life improved since leaving the cult?
No need to save anyone from anything
Free to make my own life decisions
Went to collage
Voted, joined and contribute to things and institutions I believe in
Got rid of the sickest people I've ever had in my life, many of which were forced on me to like
Have true spirituality, based on what works for me
I'm free of the "responsibility" of saving people from anything. I can state what I believe, and state my opinion without the need from others to like or approve it
I know the difference between opinions and interpretations of things, and facts
I learned the difference between feelings and truth; feelings are not reality, nor are they facts
Formed a wonderful family
Have/had several careers
Left young enough to be able to have a little something for retirement
Minimized the negative influence of that organization
Have the best and most loyal friends
I've traveled the world to places I want to visit, not places I want to convert people and "spread the good news"
Have proven time and time again that I am a much better person and have better morals than many of the morally bankrupted, horrible JWs I met and grew up with
I have a great support system, people I can truly count on without any condition and based on mutual acceptance and respect
I can make any financial, career, family and medical decision on my own and based on sound, informed decisions, not for some reward in a next life that may or may not happen
Doing the things that I love and believe in, I have been able to be a role model, inspire others, provide true help and support to others, and get the reward of a heart felt thank you to me (because I deserve the credit, not some Jehovah)
Been able to maintain my life, my stances, my believes, and the path that I chose, regardless of whether things get bad or not. I'm no stranger to hardship and bad times, but I've overcome every obstacle leaving the Jehovah crap aside. I've never doubted my decision to leave no matter how bad things have gotten in my life.
The most important thing, however, is that I was able to receive the mental health support that I needed instead of relying on magic Jehovah or any of that nonsense.
Are you happy?
Overall yes.
Have you made some amazing friends or maybe met an amazing partner in the world?
Yes, absolutely. However, even if I didn't, the Jehovah crap is never going to contribute anything good in my life. Never had, never will. I rather die alone and homeless than going back the the Jehovah crap.
The world can be scary, but I don't need to escape from it to make it in it.
Nobody in my life says Are you Praying, going in fs, contributing, studying, giving, sacrificing, helping enough - ARE YOU DOING ALL THESE THINGS ENOUGH.
Now, if someone asks how I am, it's because they really are interested, not because they're trying to catch me not doing something enough. No one walks up to me and says, "I heard this and that about you..." or, "Where's Steve, tell him we missed him!" I got to where I would say, "Well if you want to you can call him, he's working but he'll answer his phone."
We have enjoyed our granddaughter's journey through high school, which she would not have had if she had stayed with her father and his wife, who said she would not be allowed to attend school after the 8th grade. They were going to make her do homeschooling. Now she's graduating with top grades and has a scholarship to go to university this fall.
Since leaving I've made some nice internet friends, but have never been able to start anything more than casual acquaintances in person. We're both 65, the age when your friends have life in common with you, and around here most people have friends at their church that they do things with. It's very okay as I've gotten over the idea of needing a close friend to share life.
I agree wholeheartedly with Scratchme1010 - before i would ever go back to dubtown i would die alone and homeless! and add, in peace and guilt-free.
Well, let me put it that way: I got an invitation to the memorial by someone I don't know and yet, concluded by: "Your brother who loves you".
I am no longer surrounded by people who pretend to love me. Since I left, I made many acquaintances and none of them would pretend to have greater feelings for me than what they actually have. This life without hypocrisy is wonderful.
I met and married a wonderful "worldly" guy.
We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this weekend.
Happy anniversary grreat teacher!
I lived in near poverty as a JW because of pioneering. Since leaving I've been to Paris, Rome, Athens, watched the the sun rise on the Taj Mahal, seen Niagara Falls, the Alhambra and paintings in the Louvre and the Uffizi. I've seen tulips in Amsterdam, been on a gondola in Venice, walked atop the city wall of Dubrovnik and seen the snow on the Italian Alps at beautiful Lake Como in the spring.
I graduated BSc and found a job I enjoy and watched my beautiful little daughter grow up to be an intelligent woman with a social conscience. She has a BA and MA and is loving teaching children.
I go to the cinema, theatre and have meals out with my meetup group and read books with my book club. If I don't want to go nobody gives me the third degree and that 'we missed you' rubbish. Life isn't perfect, whose life is? The difference is it's my life now, I make my own friends, my own decisions and my own mistakes. I love it.
I am free to use MY time the way I want. I just took early retirement and I can only imagine the pressure to evangelize and to reach out for service privileges I would have been under if I hadn't left the cult.
I am free to think and reason to reach my OWN conclusions. I can freely speak out when something doesn't add up and I don't have to go along just to please others.
I have a much more positive outlook on life. I no longer focus on what's wrong in the world or expect that it's all going to blow up. Instead I focus on the positive things and I look for the good in people. I no longer condemn or criticize others for not being like me.
I have come to terms with the fact that I have only this life, that I will grow old and die. It's much easier than living in hope that I have done enough to make it in the new system. There's no stick and carrot enticing me to exist to please others. Because life is short, I spend each day doing what makes me happy...and it works.
I no longer have faith or a need to believe. Gravity, wind and electricity have been proven - you need zero faith or need to believe - they're facts that can't be questioned. God, his kingdom, the bible can only make sense if you have faith. Often faith trumps facts and truth. In this day and age a growing number of people believe that the earth is flat...
I am free to help others in the way I see fit. The WT mags I handed to the homeless may have only served as toilet paper. The food and small change I give fulfill a real need and gets immediate results. My donations no longer support a rich printing corporation that just built their paradise on earth headquarters.
My friends love me for who I am, not for religious affiliation. Many times my closest JW friends moved to the neighboring congregation and I would no longer hear from them unless I initiated the contact. Now that I am inactive none of these friends ever call. They tell my wife to say Hi to NVR2L8. On the other hand the only reason they would befriend me again would be to lure me back in their cult.
Leaving the cult comes with a price. My wife is still a believer. When I was a devout JW ministerial servant she followed me, but now she's had to do things on her own which emboldened her in the cult. We no longer have discussions on religion and the simplest comments on the WT triggers threats to our marriage from her part. At this time I have no hope that she will ever wake up. It's all not bad since my younger brother who is a long time elder and my sister know where I stand and they both said that it would never change our relationship. My sister just retired and said that we were not supposed to grow old in this system...maybe there's a crack in the dam.
No stress, better friends....real friends, very happy, more free time to enjoy life. Have the option to vote.
Great life.
Marcus Aurelius said “Life is flux; all is opinion.” So is the case with religion. Since each religion is the offspring of the time, it served some purpose for specific people for their time. Hence established religions are not the way whereas one can follow spiritual laws which are unchangeable. I have found from my experience if I do things that make me happy, and make me feel good they bring the results I want. If I send out the fruits of the spirit (Gal 5:22) they bring back fruits befitting them. It is like we try to learn a new soft ware or to master the use of a smart-phone for the first time. Only when we operate according to the instruction it performs magic for us. These laws work whether we are associating with any religions or not.
After leaving JWs org I am now double conscious of following spiritual laws; and I fully benefit from them.
