Consider picking a service project that you would enjoy that involves you with one or more others working together. When you are serving another person you tend to forget about yourself and the limitations you percieve to have. After a brief time you'll find doing acts of service becomes addictive, as is cooperating with others in a common project. One step at a time, but little by little you'll find yourself feeling much better. Forgetting self is the secret, but one that takes purposeful action. try it! You'll like it! carmel
Posts by Carmel
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36Ex-JWs... feelings of isolation, agoraphobia...?
by Moxie inhi all... :) sorry for the novel.... i'm just wondering if there are any others out there who share similar experiences as me or have any comments and insight.... when i was a jw i was very, very social and active with friends and family in a wide range of activities.
i would even have considered myself the party-starter ;).
i used to plan events and social get togethers for all kinds of situations.
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15
Help me :-S
by slimboyfat ini feel awful at the moment.
there are lots of interesting threads on the go and i want to participate but i haven't got the energy.
i also wrote a long post about the sept km but i haven't finished and it's not current any more anyway.
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Carmel
Pig out on spamoni ice cream drizzled with hot fudge sauce! (((((((slim)))))))) carmel
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Shunning taken to the extreme
by unbeliever inthere is this xjw i know that i grew up with and we have kept in touch over the years.
he was df'd as a teenager, moved away and never looked back.
"k" has family he keeps in touch with.
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Carmel
When I was df't as a teenager I was declared "dead" by my parents and family. Although there was cordial contact over the years, every contact I attempted ended in another attempt to push their guilt trips so I pretty much avoided any contact. It is easy to conceive how a person could get on with life with a new family (in-laws) and have no need to contact the family that rejects everything about a person. Why subject oneself and children to such destructive interaction? Although it sounds bazzar, it is necessary of developing a healthy life to keep out the influence of dysfunctional family, sad as it sounds. carmel
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Are Christians wired different?
by startingover inchristians often talk about their relationship with god, about how they prayed for guidance and he gave it.. now lots of us out here have done the same thing with no result.
it seems to me that there is something in the brain that is wired a certain way that allows for this.
as a jw, i could never really comprehend what others were supposedly feeling.
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Carmel
How is "cause and effect" at play when we are interfacing the physical with the metaphysical? The relationship between the metaphysical and the physical is at the heart of the matter. The human psychie is a strange and wonderous thing! carmel
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The Lamb
by real one inthis thread is directed to believers and those with an open mind.
today is easter!
as i grow in my spirituality i cant help but think about the sacrafice that god made by allowing his son to die for our sins.
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Carmel
I don't mean to diminish the sacrafice of Jesus, however, I don't recall anywhere in His teachings that His death was what was important. Clearly though He called for us to follow His "teachings" whether by word or deed. So I would conclude His life was more important a lesson than the manner or reality of His death. carmel
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Carmel
Born into it! Doubts began at age 10. Knew it was not da truf at baptism age 12. Got out before turning 15. carmel
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22
Did you ever buy from Ebay?
by JH inwhat would you love to find on ebay, that you can't find anywhere?.
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Carmel
Got my Kawasaki Vulcan on Ebay! First time seller but he did everything right. Ebay had done me well. I use my paypal for paying so I'm doubly insured. carmel
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Pathological President defends Iraq War
by nvrgnbk inbush defends iraq war in speech by steven lee myerspublished: march 20, 2008washington president bush used the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in iraq on wednesday to make the case for persevering in a conflict that could have many more anniversaries.
democrats accused him of lacking a strategy to win and withdraw.. mr. bush, speaking before members of the armed forces and defense officials at the pentagon, said in his frankest acknowledgment yet that the costs of the war, in lives and money, had been higher and longer lasting than he had anticipated.
but he remained unwavering in his insistence that the invasion of iraq, which began in march 2003, had made the world better and the united states safer.. "five years into this battle, there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we can win it," he said.
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Carmel
If the goal of the war in Iraq was to win over "radical Islam" then armed conflict is not the appropriate strategy. It is a "spiritual" battle for the hearts and minds of people, which cannot be obtained by fear, submission or containment. Just like conversion by coersion is not a true conversion. But then, I didn't know that this was the justification for killing nearly a million Iraqis, forcing nearly 2.5 million out as refugees, killing 4,000 soldiers and wounding 70,000 more at the cost of $3TRILLION was based on fighting a war on radical Islam. Oh what a tangled web we weave... carmel
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People Meant To Live Forever
by choosing life ini was thinking about the reasoning the watchtower used as a proof that people were really meant to live forever.
they said that because our cells continually replace themselves, we really were made to live forever.
they even went so far as to say scientists could not figure out why this process didn't go on forever and were puzzled by this.. then i realized that all animals have the same mechanisms in place, yet the witnesses say they were not meant to live forever.
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Carmel
One of my first questions as a JW child was regarding the story of Adam and Eve. I wondered why a "perfect" creation could fail a simple test of obedience. Clearly an absolutist would have to say perfection was flawed to make the story line work. Of course I've long since decided the mythical story was not intended to be taken literally and that there are many "creation" stories in different cultures. As a scientist who has had the experiance of studiing evolutionary theory, one of the fundamental concepts of evolution is that protoplasm must die so that protoplasm can live. Meaning, the method of adapting to a changing environment involves the re-combination of DNA through sexual combinations that gives rise to opportunities for natural selection to operate at the level of the allel. The evidence of this is overwhelming as a mechanism for adaptation. So, it is unlikely that cellular replacement in living organisms has anything at all to do with how long the organism was intended to live. Some species are alive for an hour or less, others are for over a century. All are subject, however, to needing to present new options each generation to facilitate the long term survival of that species. My scientific training has not caused me to loose my faith, only to inform it and force it to be in conformity with physical reality. If reality is "one" then religion and science have to conform even though they may be viewing it from different perspectives. carmel
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How Many Here Are Born Again Christians Now?
by lovelylil injust wondering how many ex -jw's have become born again christians and whether or not this happened while you were still in the wt organization?
also, what is your experience now with god and christ?
** please non-believers, lets not use this thread to bash christianity again, or do the whole is there god/not god discussion all over again.
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Carmel
I definately have an "renewed" relationship (i.e. understanding) about the Christ, but it took several years of searching, finally giving up and accepting Him finding me! However, I don't think my experiance or testimony puts me in the category you intended lil. Just as a follow-up, what are you getting out of the information you asked for? carmel