for me, your question is a matter of degree - Happiness is, unfortunately, very fleeting. But as a devoted JW, I was often unhappy because SO much was out of my control (100% my doing!!), until I made the decision to have more control - I am unhappy from time to time now.....but it is NOT because of SO many things that are out of my control! Great question....................
mrbarthoss
JoinedPosts by mrbarthoss
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70
In All Honesty, Are You A Happier Person Now Than when You Were A JW?
by minimus injws say, "the apostates are miserable!!
".....do you feel miserable?
(i don't).
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73
Tell us about your avitar.
by carefully faded ini loved the recent topic asking what each of our screen names means.
great question as i have always wondered about quite a few of our screen names.
as i was reading the responses, i looked at holey cheeses - king of the juice's avitar and thought about how i have been wondering for the past three years, what the hell that is a picture of.
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mrbarthoss
This is a picture of U2's guitarist, The Edge, whom is rumored to have an x-wife that was/is a witness......not sure about that, but I like that "don't-fuck-with-me" look, and I got lazy trying to put a picture of myself on my bio................
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Was There Ever Any Rule That You Thought Was Silly In The Organization?
by minimus inthe rule on having "large gatherings" was stupid.
because some people abused a "christian get-together" that had a lot of people, we could only get together in smaller groups.
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mrbarthoss
N O B O Y S C O U T S ! ! ! ! !
exactly what evil would have resulted from being a young scout has been lost on me all these years, but if I had to guess, it was an omnibus protection from homosexuality, political awareness, the ability to help another human being that was NOT a Jehovah's Witness, or (GOD FORBID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), the danger of missing a meeting!
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Personal Growth
by simplesally inhave any of you thought of going to college since you left the jw's?
now that its not forbidden and you are free to do what you want .... it should not matter how old you are.
i know...... you think: i am 35 or 40 or 52, go to college?
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mrbarthoss
Sally,.........I will tell you the experience that I am having with school (age 40); There are a great deal of adults about my age at the university I attend (UMKC, home of the Kangaroos!!!!!!) the school's career assistance board is amazing in helping establish a schedule, arrange for financing, etc.
What is very apparent after getting involved with the whole academic scene again, is that YOU are a paying customer, and they help you meet your objective!
Good luck to you and anyone else determined to finish school!!!
-Bart
p.s.: Although I work in the mortgage business, I maintain my real estate license,........I would encourage you to renew, as well............whether you work as a traditional realator or not, it is good to be abreast of new real estate statutes, etc.
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Did anyone ever have an affair?
by betty boop injust curious how many people were shady and were having affairs in the congregation.
in other words, did anyone have a relationship with a married jw?
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mrbarthoss
OUCH VIV!!!!!! I know that is probably the opinion of a lot of current/former witness woman...
I guess the perspective is different for the guys - I never got involved with a married "sister", but the temptation was constant.........I was surrounded by beautiful woman for 10+ years, and I imagined myself having an affair with many of them (easy to do for a guy that was in his 20's at the time!) - True to form, I had a 2 year relationship with one of those beauties several years after we both were "out", and she had gotten divorced (talk about latent passion!!!!!) but EVERY fantasy was still there, and it made for some fun nights!
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Those true life stories in the mags
by trumangirl inthose life stories of bros and sis's in the awakes and wts were always very inspirational and encouraging to me when i was in the borg.
everyone enjoyed reading them.
now i realise that these experiences would have been censored and edited for maximum affect on the readers.
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mrbarthoss
I have known of only one story from my JW past that appeared in the Awake! (or was it the Watchtower,........like THAT matters) - A "sister" that had a bitter custody battle with her unbelieving x husband was exalted as an exemplary witness (approximately 1980 or so) for her staunch stance against his intense "push" for his daughters to be involved in his life at Christmas time, birthdays, his desire for the girls to be in the school plays, etc. etc.
As you might have guessed, she not only is NOT a witness, neither are her daughters, and I know her now as a zealous celebrant of Christmas, birthdays, and involves her daughter from her second marriage in school activities, cheerleading, etc. etc. - She also LOVES her cigarettes, and frequent trips to the local strip club with her hubby.................
Odd to think about this person, now. She was such a local legend for a few years back then, and was the subject of local news programs, and a magazine article.
PRAISE JAH, YOU PEOPLE!!!!
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Annoying JW Buzzwords...
by Confucious inhey guys, .
was just wondering what is your worst jw buzzword.
probably all of us hate the "just leave it in jehovah's hands.
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mrbarthoss
"he is a 'good' brother" - I interprete this now as "he is a mouse, with no real opinion, never rocks the boat, always shows up for the meetings, the hall builds, and makes regular contributions to the 'worldwide work' ". (obviously the same applies to 'the sisters')
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What state or location do you live in?
by Junction-Guy ini was just wondering with all the people on this board and especially all the new ones lately where everyone is from?
you can include your city if you feel comfortable enough.
i will start this off by saying that i live in knoxville tennessee, originally from dayton ohio.
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mrbarthoss
Overland Park, Kansas - West suburb of Kansas City, Missouri
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What famous person do you share a birthday with????????
by BLISSISIGNORANCE in.
http://www.famousbirthdays.com/
me........................johnny depp and michael j. fox.. what about you????????????
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mrbarthoss
- that is a cool site................I see that Wynona Judd is a day younger than me; hmmmmmmmmmmm
JFK, and Bob Hope amongst others
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mrbarthoss
to paraphrase a humanist mantra that I once read........"I believe in myself, first In my fellow man, second and I believe in the HOPE of a higher power third. And I live my life accordingly"