if you are debating to learn how others see things and to bolster your own reasoning ability its a good thing. if you are debating to try to change someone's mind on a faith issue, you are in general wasting your time.
joelbear69
JoinedPosts by joelbear69
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25
A deflating talk with my brother re: anti-witnessing,,,,thoughts?
by smellsgood in**edited to say, my brother is not a jw, never has been, nor have any of my family.
i'm referring to jw's i don't know who came to the door finally (i posted about it a couple weeks ago in personal experiences) i was just talking to him about it because he got word of it and doesn't like the idea of it** .
talking to my brother today, he doesn't like the idea of me getting involved debating with jw's (i've done this plenty, just not in person:).
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65
Boy Fluff. . . . . . Who's Your Team?
by Clam ingot to address the balance with the girlie make up thread so here goes.
my first sports love is rugby union - my team is the london wasps.
football team (soccer) is millwall.. clam .
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joelbear69
mmmmm man fluff
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29
What's the point of it all anyway??
by Maddie ini am getting to wonder what the point of life is anyway.
are we just a product of evolution with the sole purpose of survival?
i feel so confused and anxious right now.
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joelbear69
life, after we have found a way to survive,
is about seeking out what makes you happy
this is normally a mixture of doing things for yourself,
doing things for those you love, and doing things for
people in general. -
7
A better way to approach therapy
by joelbear69 ini recently started my 3rd round of therapy.
the first two proved unproductive in really .
helping me deal with my problems and become .
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joelbear69
i recently started my 3rd round of therapy.
the first two proved unproductive in really
helping me deal with my problems and become
a happier person.
i have a new attitude going into therapy this
time. the past two times, we concentrated on
all the bad things that have happened to me,
trying to figure out why i was loopy, depressed
and having anxiety attacks.
this time, i am going in with the purpose of
looking at the present, trying to determine
what makes me tick by the way i am reacting
to my environment now and also with the purpose
of making concrete plans to reach my personal
goals, those things that will make me happy. -
70
The fade is over, talked to my parents last night. (very very long)
by Paralipomenon inthere would never be a good time to have this conversation.
quite different from most people raised a witness, i have very few horror stories about my upbringing.
my family was just a family, my mom and dad fought and argued, my siblings and i misbehaved and got in trouble.. .
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joelbear69
faith is not rational, no matter what that faith is in.
faith is an emotion and you can't argue emotions.
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11
Avoided the Meeting
by Lloyd Braun inwell, they wanted to talk about something, but i didn't have the time to meet with them, and luckily, one of the two who wanted to meet missed the meeting himself anyway, so the other said they would reschedule.
i told them that last night would have been the best possible time to meet for a while, since my workload is picking up and i will simply not have time on my hands, so whatever it is, it will have to wait a while.
i think i might just stop going to meetings for a while and stop answering my phone and door.
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joelbear69
fading is good.
i recommend that you stay busy.
i'm sure there are hobbies and other things
that you have wanted to pursue, now you
have more time for that.
it will be harder for them to contact you
you will not fade.
you will shine in your new life.
hugs
Joel -
10
I am extremely odd
by joelbear69 ini am fascinated by things that are different from me.
what makes other people tick.
i am goofy and have a constant stream of consciousness going through my mind that when expressed verbally or in writing appears to most to be the mumblings of a mad man.
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joelbear69
i am odd i am odd in that i continously look for new ideas and ways of looking at things i am fascinated by things that are different from me. what makes other people tick. i am goofy and have a constant stream of consciousness going through my mind that when expressed verbally or in writing appears to most to be the mumblings of a mad man. but if they listened long enough they would get the sense of it. i am unrestrained in my need for freedom which is the real factor that moved me away from the witnesses. i like being naked. i have strong opinions on the separation between humanity and nature. i have recently realized that much of my bad mental state has been caused by two sets of practices in my life. 1. i try to force other people to be odd like me 2. i do not seek out those who appreciate oddness. it seems like such a simple answer to my problems and i'm sure its not a cure all. i must discuss this further with my therapist who is taking very good care of me. hugs to all Joel
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For Those Born 1930 - 1979 Remember The Good Old Days ?
by AWAKE&WATCHING inthose born 1930-1979. .
to all the kids who survived the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!.
first, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and or drank while they were pregnant.
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joelbear69
great thread born 1958. I remember: looking forward to Saturday cartoons (when I somehow figured out how to avoid service) playing outside til dark. throwing clorox bottles up to watch the bats fly at them eating blackberries, plums and grapes in the woods. chewing on sourweed, against my mother's wishes building go carts, anything that would roll down a hill fast kickball, playing HORSE and Around the World basketball, tag, hide and go seek after dark, dirt bomb wars, dirt piles we used for actually playing with cars and trucks (do kids know what dirt is anymore, is there any such thing as a dirt pile anymore) exploring any area forbidden by my mother riding my bike everywhere i could get to in my little town pick up football
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7
called an old friend
by joelbear69 ini called an old witness friend who pretty much ignores the df rule yesterday.
he sounded about the same as he did the last time i saw him 20 years ago.
i asked about some of my old friends.
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joelbear69
I called an old witness friend who pretty much ignores the DF rule yesterday. He sounded about the same as he did the last time I saw him 20 years ago. I asked about some of my old friends. Nobody seems to be doing particularly well or not well. It was just weird, thinking of these people, picturing them as I knew them 20 years ago and knowing there lives have gone on without me. its hard to believe its been almost 20 years. so many people just disappeared from my life at once. dozens of friends from Valdosta and Jacksonville combined plus all of my brother's family. just gone. it really messes with my head when i let it. i have to remind myself that the last 20 years of my life have not been empty without them. I have had a successful career in banking and have now started a new career, by choice, in Market Research. I have had a 20 year relationship with a wonderful caring man who still tells me he loves me every day. I have had numerous sets of friends over the years, i tend to drift from set to set, now that I don't have a set set of friends as I did as a witness. As my life interests have changed, so have my friends with the exception of just a few. I've seen the USA from shore to shore and started my International travels with trips to Montreal and Toronto. So, its a matter of facing the reality of life. I can look at my life as being empty without those friends or I can look at my life as full of a new set of people and experiences that I would never have had if I had remained a witness.
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13
Nightmares
by joelbear69 ini had another one last night.
they all center around me seeing jehovah's witnesses from the past who i cared about .
and still care about.
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joelbear69
youngglove, you really hit it on the head. i expect people to be my friends. this leads to disappoint almost 100% of the time. i trust the wrong people. i share too much information too fast. i am overly sensitive to their more hardened ways of dealing with people. i expect too much rigidly defined behavior from them. gosh, i'm still a Jehovah's Witness zombie. i really am. i'm going to a therapist now. i know that i have to insist on being me which is hard for me. attracting people to me will also be a challenge. scary stuff. i have had some success joining a board game group where we all have something in common. it has been hard for me to make gay friends. i had quite a few when i first came out. again, we all had that in common which bonded us together as a group. that lasted for about 10 years. then we all got in relationships, moved, made other friends who shared more in common, etc. and these friendships all disappeared about the time I was 40. The last 9 years have basically been limbo socially. time to start over once again. build on my base of board game friends and a couple of bear friends that i have.