We each just have to get on with our lot in life and have as much fun as possible. Being aware of current affairs is important but trying to analyse the world condition is not conducive to having a fun life
Have fun as much as you can
Kate xx
Something isnt quite right.
by atomant 42 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
ToesUp
"Something isn't quite right."
This is a statement my spouse and I said for years, while we were still active JW's. Once we learned TTATT, we fully understood what the "something" was. It's funny, we don't make that statement anymore.
-
sir82
Well, the leading Republican candidate for POTUS calls his opponents "pussies", explicitly states he will torture terror suspects, and openly calls for discrimination based on religion....and gains popularity for each such action.
I kind of feel the same way.
-
MarkofCane
l saw a video the other day of a father holding his baby blown in half by a bomb one piece in each hand and l cried.How sick this world really .It really hit home how demented people have become
Hi Atomant
We are conditioned to think this way and to see the world as temporary and people as disposable. Religion was invented to fix all of man's problems.
Its interesting when you see videos of atrocities committed by man or just watch the news on TV for a bit we are programmed to view every bad thing as fulfillment of end time prophecy, remember you were or are in a high control group (cult) that sole propose is to propagate this message. There are bad people and there are good people that coexist on this beautiful planet called earth, it that simple. Religion muddled the waters of what life is all about. The god delusion has cause more suffering to mans existence and has given over control over your life and mind to others, its time to take it back.
MC
-
LisaRose
I think some people just have a natural tendency to be more sensitive to the evil that exists in the world, It can be hard sometimes not to become convinced that it's hopeless and of course some of us are just more naturally pessimistic. Religious groups like the JWs use that to manipulate you. When all seems bleak it can be tempting to believe that God is going to fix everything and all you have to do is to give up your autonomy and do everything they say. When you find out the Watchtower lied about so much it can be hard, because the comfort of believing there is a plan is suddenly taken away.
Unfortunately there is no easy answer, no quick fix and anyone saying otherwise is lying. But it doesn't mean it's hopeless, it just means you have to find a way to go on without the false sense of security provided by the religion. There is good in the world, and things are not as bad as you would think if all you do is read the news. There are no headlines that say "crime rates go down" or " not as many people went hungry last year".
We all make choices every day about what to focus on and what to do with our lives. You can choose to focus on the evil in the world while doing nothing about it, or you can choose to focus on the positive, while at the same time doing what you reasonably can to make the world a better place for you having been in it, it's entirely up to you.
The JWs tend to focus on the bad, because it validates their belief that everything is hopeless and that we need God to fix everything. Especially if you tend towards such negativity and black and white thinking in the first place , that habit can be hard to overcome. Constantly reading bad news is like a junk food diet for the mind, it's not healthy. But you can choose to focus on more positive things. Maybe you stop watching the news for a while, or at least cut back. Maybe instead you seek out things that have a more positive spin. It's important also to value friendships and family relationships, because those bonds will help you combat negativity.
Instead of thinking about how bad the world is, take some small step every day to make it less so. Do things fit in with your values, or that address concerns you have. I am concerned with the environment, so I try to do things that reflect that. I actually have a business turning reclaimed wood into vintage style signs, turning unwanted junk into something useful. I compost, turning my kitchen scraps and yard waste into garden amendments, reducing the need for fertilizer. I reduce, reuse and recycle whenever possible. I know that my actions are a drop in the bucket, that there has to be a massive shift in the world if we are to stop greenhouse gas from altering the climate, but I do what I can, which is as all any one can do.
I also have a tendency to focus on the negative. I have found that regular physical exercise is really important to keep a positive mood. For those of us with a tendency to internalize, to dwell on problems, physical exercise is a way to turn that focus around, out towards action, other people, towards the positive not the negative. Finally, I also highly recommend meditation, as it has been life changing for me. Meditation has proven health benefits, lowers blood pressure and improves mood.Your sense of doom could be your mind trying to deal with your fears and unresolved emotions. Meditation is a way to deal with those feelings and help you see a way forward.
Lisa 🌹
-
steve2
Basing a belief or expectation on a "feeling" is not a firm or reliable foundation.
Feelings change but facts don't.
I think of all the well-intentioned men across the centuries (and a few women too) who were utterly convinced they had a mission to lead the way in warning mankind they were facing the time of the end.
As a young man, Charles Russell used his inheritance money to set up the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. He and his colleagues worked tirelessly to promulgate an earnest end-times message from the 1870s.Here we are in 2016.
It is foolhardy to base a belief or expectation on a feeling. We see things from a very limited perspective of our narrow time band, not seeing the thousands of years of expectations before we were here, and little comprehending that after we die, this old world goes on and on.
Charles Russell believed he would see the actual end of this system. He died exactly 100 years ago. Some belief, huh?
-
Vidiot
As I got older, I started getting the feeling that something was "not quite right" in the WTS.
Does that count?
-
Doubtfully Yours
The terrible result of indoctrination.
As much as I want to escape, I feel that things will go terribly wrong once I do; I'll get a terrible illness for which I'll need help that won't be there, or I'll fall on hard financial times, or I'll suffer an accident and there'll be nobody there to help. It's a horrible, paralyzing mind trick that this deep indoctrination plays over and over in my psyche.
It keeps me in chains, I feel 'til the day I die. This fear mortifies me every single day.
DY
-
Xanthippe
DY have you been fading for thirteen years and you still have the fear something terrible will happen if you leave and that fear 'mortifies you every day'? May I reprectfully suggest you need professional help? This has gone on too long. Take care. -
steve2
DY does not necessarily need "professional help" - which in some instances could make matters worse (e.g., treating a common reaction to indoctrination as a pathological state).
It is so common for those raised in or exposed to "catastrophic" belief systems to find those beliefs come back to disturb them every now and then - even when you realize those beliefs are based on faulty thinking and have had to be constantly revised and updated.
I recommend people read through Lisa Rose's most recent post (just above this one). She makes some excellent recommendations for daily practices that can greatly help the individual to move forward. In addition, learning "Distress tolerance" and "mindfulness" skills can help significantly - and there are so many websites that teach these everyday skills for coping and making progress.
If you have been told - and actually end up believing - the end is "just" around the corner, it is hard to let go that ominous expectation - but it can be done, little by little, as time passes. Also, it is helpful to normalize a sense of foreboding and dread - as these were the kinds of warnings that were often taught - and still are.