New to this..

by Hoofie 21 Replies latest jw friends

  • kls
    kls

    Welcome, many here still suffer as you do . Stick around and you will learn to become stronger with the help of understanding people.

  • recoveringjw
    recoveringjw

    Hoofie,

    Welcome! I left the organization about 8 years ago. I wasn't df'd, I disassociated myself, but just recently started to post here. It has been a relief to find so much support here. I think that leaving the JW's is sort of like recovering from an addiction---you are never quite done, you are always recovering. People will tell you to "get over it", but it's not that easy.

    When I left, I had to force myself to "deprogram" and reconstruct nearly my entire belief system. It takes work and research and perseverence. Come back here as often as you can, it really does help. It's sometimes like free therapy :)

    Sam---WELCOME!

    Bethany

  • Hoofie
    Hoofie

    Thanks Bethany. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get up the courage to register on something like this and now I wish I'd done it sooner. I really think I'm going to benefit so much - just from sharing experiences and having people understand. Thanks also for helping me see there's real light at the end of this 8 year tunnel!!

    Hoofie

    x

  • Netty
    Netty

    Hi there welcome!

    You will find people who have been through, and are going through similar things as you. Thats a good thing to know. I think you will find what you are looking for here. Good luck,

    ciao!

    Netty

  • Odrade
    Odrade

    Hey Hoofie... welcome to the board.

    Since leaving, I've found it virtually impossible to consider other beliefs, because although I'm not actively pursuing the JW faith it's the only opinion I've ever been taught - which leads me to have doubts about every other religion.

    Wow, can I ever identify with that. I have been exploring my "spiritual" side, but often I run smack up against my paranoia about getting sucked into something else that all a big control issue. I'm working it out though. It helps to come here and throw out ideas for help and discussion. Hope you enjoy your stay here, see ya around.

    O

  • HappyDad
    HappyDad

    Welcome Hoofie,

    You will find this board to be very good therapy. We have had our minds conditioned (polite word for brainwashed) for years and some like myself for decades. As I once heard......"time takes time" and only time can help all of us to recover to the extent each of us needs. Like a cancer.....we will always have some thoughts of what we once believed, but there is a BETTER life beyond the WT.

    Sit back.......relax.........and enjoy the show.........you will get soooooooo much info here that you will have to pick and choose what may help you for whatever belief or non belief you may have at this time.

    Enjoy and be happy,

    HappyDad

  • qwerty
    qwerty

    Welcome fellow Yorkshire person, to this fine board!

    Qwerty

  • happehanna
    happehanna

    A warm welcome to Hoofie

  • Gretchen956
    Gretchen956

    Welcome, hoofy, good to have you on board. you said:

    All I want is to get in touch with my spiritual side, but I have to switch it off because my indoctrined brain won't let me think anything other than that which I think I already know.

    Here's what helped me. When I discovered one thing I was taught as a JW that I now found to be totally erroneous, it helped me to look at each other thing that came up under the microscope of "if they can be wrong about one thing, could they also be wrong about this?" So, you have to be open to looking for that truth.

    In my case all my research and studying took me in another direction from christianity, but you'll find what makes you happy and fulfilled spiritually. Each one has their own path to the divine. Just keep one thing in mind.. You don't have to buy the whole package. So many people think that they have to have an exact carbon copy of the belief set of their particular sect or religion or the bible or whatever it is. It is possible to look at many things and take the gems from each of them.

    My advise is, keep an open mind, do it at your own pace, and don't ever let anyone else pressure you into conforming again.

    Good luck on your journey, I look forward to hearing more from you.

    Sherry

  • anglise
    anglise

    Hi and welcome to the board Hoofie (you tread the boards?).

    Glad you took the plunge. I am sure you will find many here who can help and understand all the emotional pressure you are going through.

    Unless you have been a dub that will be almost impossble to empathize with.

    Have fun with your new experiences here.

    Anglise

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