Ok 20 years out only 10 years free (cuz sometimes I'm a slow learner)
Yup May makes 20 years since I officially got the boot. 20 years since I lost my entire way of life and had to start all over - no money, no home, no education, no job.
There's a sad kind of irony here in that except for the education I'm sort of in the same boat. But there is a HUGE BUT this time.
When I left the JWs I only thought of suicide. I so totally believed that there was nothing ahead of me except death. I was taught to believe that leaving the safety of the WTS meant eternal destrucion with no hope for a future.
Well I've learned a few things along the way. I've learned the WTS is wrong. There is life and a future after leaving the JWs. I've learned you can create goals and work towards them and you can succeed beyond every expectation you were taught. I've learned that I was not alone. (Thanks to all of you here) There are hundreds and thousands of people, who like me, felt the chains of oppression and control that have nothing to do with a belief or faith in God and have walked away or found other ways to leave and learned to be free.
I continue to work hard at having a life free of controlling people or organizations. After being enslaved for most of my life it sometimes is too easy to fall into those old patterns with controlling people.
Now I choose what color shapes my life. I choose the direction. And sometimes it takes a bit longer but it is MY choice. I like it and I'm keeping it.
For those of you still trying to decide or who still have one foot in. . .
Break those chains