one thing which kept me trapped as a JW far longer than necessary was the FEAR that if I left and no longer believed, my life would be empty of meaning and futile and ultimately end in a meaningless death. I could not find any meaning in the world apart from the view JWs had imposed upon me... all other ways seemed to lead only to meaninglessness.
but once out and even without a belief in any god[s] I still found my life meaningful but it took several years before I understood my new source of meaning and now see it as the ONLY valid source... I will explain this after I see some of your ideas as I do not wish to bias your answers in advance.