Good for you! It is so empowering to bust right through that fear of man and realize that they really can't do anything to you. In the end they don't respect or love you if you have to be someone you're not just to keep contact with them. The title of a book on dealing with people that suffer from borderline personality disorder is called "Walking On Eggshells" and is a hallmark of ones that deal with people with the disorder. I walked on eggshells most of my life and now I can stomp, run, jump, or anything I want without the worry that something breaks due to it. I'm just me, take me or leave me, and I've found more people willing to take me on now than I ever did in Jehovah's loving happy wonderful "true friends" organization.
You know that example given where a person is in a flood an up on the roof and they pray to God for saving and a boat shows up, a helicopter, and something else, and the person is disappointed because God never came to save them, but in reality he sent them a boat and helicopter and something else? Well, my whole life I never really had friends in the organization. I prayed and prayed and constantly turned down offers to hang out with worldly people because that's not how it was "supposed" to happen right? Now I realize that I had, and passed up, many opportunities for friendship because an isolationist cult led me to to so, and I regret that. I now have more supportive people than ever in my life. There's that scripture that JW's love to use about losing mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters for the sake of his name and how we would gain mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters in the future. Well, it applies to me and NOT in the way the Watchtower intended. I've lost my fleshly family but have gained people that actually care about ME for who I am, not for who they think I am or want me to be.
I'm proud of you. You've taken a brave step.
