Posts by exwhyzee

naturaly i am studying this because of my own background and now i want to help others who have had similar strains on their lives.. i know the pressure that the jw organisation puts on its members, so i was wondering, if you dont mind saying so of course, did any of you attend counselling sessions due to the pressures and problems that the jw life brought along?.

i can imagine that the majority of my old congregation (myself, my dad and my brother included) would need some form of counselling or medication in order to remain sane.

exwhyzee

I went to counseling to find out what all the terrible unexplainable anxiety I was suffering from, was all about. If I talked to a JW about it, all they could do is say it was Satan working on me or I needed to read the account of Job in the Bible, pray incessantly or get out in service more. In counseling, I couldn't really "tell all" so I kept quiet about the JW side of my life. I didn't want to bring reproach on the organization. What if the counselor was turned away from the Org. by something I said ? Of course there was also the fear that they would tell me I needed to get out of the religion altogether, especially since that's what we were always warned would happen if we listened to man's wisdom. The two counselors I saw were perplexed because I had a stable happy family life, a good job and wasn't hooked on anything. They said the kind of symptoms I described were usually found in patients who were in the middle of divorce, job loss, drug addiction or some other traumatic experience.

I even went to a Witness Counselor who asked me sign an agreement stating that if anything of concern to the Elders came out during our sessions, she would have to reveal it to them. She was a sad dreary lady who revealed that she had at one point in her life had been disfellowshipped. To me, she seemed in need of therapy herself. I saw her at an assembly later (which was uncomfortable) and she looked utterly miserable.

I fond counseling helpful and enlightening but mostly it was like having a very expensive friend to bounce things off of.

Eventually, another set of circumstances which I've mentioned on here before, led my Wife and I to decide to hang the whole JW business up and leave for good. Poof....no more anxiety, no more panic no more doom and gloom. I later realized that for me, the meetings were like attending a funeral 3 times a week. Once I stepped away from the constant negativity, the false hopes, the dire warnings masqurading as worship and got out from under the burden of serving God, Watchtower style, I began to heal at once.

29

Amanda Knox & Raffaele Sollecito have been FREED

by dm6 in

i'm not sure how many of you are interested in this or how many of you have been following it, but i have been right from when i first heard about it a few years ago.. they were each sentenced 25 years and 26 years for the murder of british student meredith mercher, but after a dramatic appeal, today, they have had their sentences overturned and have been given an immediate release, because the evidence suggesting that they were guilty was not strong enough to support that verdict.. i always thought them both to be innocent, and this is true justice for the poor girl and guy after being locked up for 4 years for somehting they did not commit, however, it does still leave an unsolved riddle.... who killed meredith mercher if not these two?.

the strange thing is, amanda knox apparently originally claimed she heard screams from meredith and hid in a different room in the house whilst it happened, but that stroy had changed to "i was never there" which is what i think too, given the facts.. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3850483/amanda-knox-is-not-guilty-of-killing-meredith-kercher.html.

what are your thoughts?.

exwhyzee

I'm watching live coverage as she is escorted by motorcade from having just spoken to the crowds gathered to welcome her home at the airport here in Seattle.

Either she is innocent or she is an amazing actress.

118

What does your user name mean????

by karter in

jw
friends

anything ???.

.

karter ...i race go-karts.

exwhyzee

EXWHYZEE is as easy as ABCas simple as Doe Ray Me.

By the way, have you googled your user name on this forum lately?

12

Barb Anderson's MEMORIES OF MAX LARSON

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

from: http://www.freeminds.org/blogs/musings-of-a-watchtower-insider/memories-of-max-larson.html.

barb anderson's memories of max larson.

theres much to be remembered about max larson, but for me, there were two things that i remember the mostthe wonderful timbre of his speaking voice and his strange-looking, very long eyebrow hairs that grew every which way.

exwhyzee

Before I knew who he was I remember referring to him as Brother Breznev Brows to myself and kinda' feeling guilty about it because he always seemed to be very kindly. ( I half expected a she bear to come out of nowhere and eat me alive sort of like what happened to those bratty kids in the Bible) I also remember the lady in the electric scooter zooming through the tunnel but didn't know it was his wife.

I'd be interested to find out more about the suicide at Bethel and what kind of media damage control they did to explain a suicide at the happiest place on earth, to the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. There must have at least been a write up in the local newspaper or something....it sure didn't reach the congregation level.

40

Any Runners Here?

by zoiks in

anyone else like to run?

i started running regularly in the past year or so and am becoming addicted.

participated in my first 5k earlier this summer, a large even with about 2,500+ runners.

exwhyzee

Yep...running lights up all the feel good synapses of my brain. I am involved with several 5k charity run events but have yet to enter one of them myself. It must be some kind of commitment thing that's holding me back. When I've gone a stretch without running, I have dreams about trying to run but for some reason in the dream I can't get the rythym down and I sort of skip and shuffle and it's really frustrating.

As for those five toed shoes, I can't imagine that they'd be very good for your knees as they don't seem to have much cushion. And what kind of socks would one wear with those. LOL !

53

Did YOU Actually Believe That You Would Never Die?

by minimus in

jw
friends

even though i was raised a witness, i was never convinced that the end would be in 1975 or even in my lifetime..

exwhyzee

The sad part of this realisation, is that Im still coming to terms with the face I will never see my darling mum ever again.

Aww Pams girl that is a sad thought indeed.... What nicer tribute could your mum want than to have you feel that way about her? I would love to even just hear my Mom and Dad's voices once more. Part of me knows that there is much more to the "big picture" than we can possibly realize. I have a certain sense that I will see them again somehow and that there is something good in store for us all. I know that sounds kinda froo-froo and I have no proof of any of it, but there is a strong feeling I carry around with me that tells me this could very well be the case. I think we are all in for a good laugh at ourselves when we find out how silly we have been about everything in this life.

8

Did you have financial struggles when leaving WTS?

by Silent_Scream in

jw
friends

what have you done when realizing you've sacrificed your life and education for the wts and realized you were about to get out but finances wasn't coming through good?.

what helped you short term and long term?.

what would you tell your newfound self if you could go back?.

exwhyzee

Although I really thought the world was going to end any day, without realizing it till now, I always had a plan B. ready just in case. I had a small downpayment saved and bought my first house at 21. It was only 2 years old and even though it was small, it was nice. There was a big field behind the house where they raised Llamas and there was a view of Mt Rainier. above the field. I didn't have a College Education ( I wanted to be a Dentist) but I got a sort of entry level job in a field with growth potential and a good pension plan and I took certification courses and gained experience. After I got married at 23 and after our 2 boys were born, I sold the first house myself saving real estate costs. We had another one built for ourselves near a lake. I remember hoping that Armegeddon wouldn't come until we got to live in it awhile and feeling very guilty for thinking that . We did this once more and now the house is paid off and I am vested in a State pension plan. Following the Bible advice to keep your eye simple was definetly a good way to go and living like everything could possibly fall apart tomorrow did spoil some of the joy but it kept us form aquiring unessary debt. We never bought anything we didn't have the money for right now and always kept a years wages in the bank just in case. After leaving the Org about 3 .5 years ago, even though I half expected things to go wrong financially and otherwise because isn't that what happens to you if you loose J's holy spirit ? I know former friends and relatives thought it would happen to me too. Instead, just when the economy was starting to unravel, I landed the best job I've ever had and am still on track to be able to retire in my 50's. But as I type that last statement, I still am tempeted ot tag (if this system doesn't end) onto the end of that sentence. (will that ever go away?) Looking back I wish I could have lived without the weekly reminders about the end of the world hanging over my head and I wonder what I could have done in life if I hadn't spent so much of it sitting in meetings etc.

14

Plymouth Brethren, ever heard of them?

by exwhyzee in

jw
friends

this religion was started in ireland around the same time as the jw's were in the mid to late 1800's.

and is still alive today in europe and america.

my grandfather and his family were of this religion.

exwhyzee

Thanks for the effort kazar....bummer about your fingers....was it a car door ? Never mind...maybe I don't want to know and besides, you'd wouldn't be able to type the answer anyway.

Can't imagine a Plymouth Brethern and a Jehovah's Witness marrige. I guess you'd have to call it a P.B and J.W. sandwich with their screwed up thier kids would be in the middle of it. They'd be constantly trying to out righteous eachother. The P.B Dad wouldn't want his kids eating at the dinner table with their unbelieving JW Mom. The JW mom would make the kids go out in field service but the Dad wouldn't allow them to go because her car has a radio in it.

Being a true worshiper is so much fun.