This is a great thread ! For years I ignored the inner voice that kept telling me something is not right . I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside . It took me years to finally be still long enough to really listen .
When my Mom was really ill ,and near death, I missed a lot of meetings and had no time to study the literature . I believe this small break from the constant Watchtower influence gave me the needed 'quiet ' to start listening to my inner voice . After I went back to a regular JW routine things were different . That is when I gave myself permission to research the internet .
Like Dagney I was at a meeting when I made up my mind this was the last one I would ever attend . I knew there could be extreme repurcussions from family members ,it felt like I was taking a leap of a cliff ......I was so relieved that there was firm ground under me instead of a fall . Since that time I have found following the leading of my inner voice has brought me much more peace and happiness than any other time in my life !