Being infected by WTB&TS propaganda, our intire way in which we relate to the world can often be askewed, especially as it pertains to our relationships. If we are no longer in the truth, but have yet to come to grips with the fact that there is something amiss in Watchtower Theology, any relative dealings with people outside of the organization can be tainted with the fears and failures, unresolved from having been in the truth. We see things from a twisted window of perception. We react to the world in ways we might not normally, if we at least had a basic understanding that the things we once believed as witnesses were just so much utter nonsense.
As I've gotten some distance between Watchtower teaching and dogma, I found I more effectively relate to the world around me. How much better it would've been to acquire a relationship, had I first been desensitized and de-programmed from the cultish mentality, in fact, now that I'm no longer slave to the organisation and its teachings, every aspect of my dealings with people, regardless for where they are is so completely different. My history, as well the lives of others who I would've have come into contact with.
Are you finding more joy in your dealings with those who you come into connect with? Do they recognise how you are handling things differently, with more confidence and with a little more flair? Do you think that your dealings with your mate may've faired much better had you met them, long after coming to the truth about Jehovah's Witnesses? What's it like peeking out of your shell as you realise that the outside world is just a little less frightening than you had been lead to believe?