wow quick calculation - I am on disabilty and getting a whopping $27 a day
Lady Lee
JoinedPosts by Lady Lee
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24
Should people be able to live on the dole ?
by fulltimestudent ina petite row is brewing in the australian teacup.
jenny macklin, a rather grandiosely titled, minister for families, asked by a journalist, whether she could live on the $35 dollars-a-day social services payment for job-seekers, replied that she could!
but her staff cut that comment out of the official transcript.. the row is a bit more complicated than that- but that's the gist.. the full story is at: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/minister-riles-welfare-groups-20130101-2c4ct.html.
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Lady Lee
cute
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Happy New Year from Lee
by Lady Lee inwell it has been an interesting year for me; some heartache; some growth; and a lot of change.
regardless of where we are on our journey away from the jehovahs witnesses we will be confronted with opportunities to learn and grow.
we dont know where life will take us.
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Lady Lee
Thank you everybody. Sometimes when we are hurt we think the whole world has turned against us. Thank you for letting me know that isn't true.
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Happy New Year from Lee
by Lady Lee inwell it has been an interesting year for me; some heartache; some growth; and a lot of change.
regardless of where we are on our journey away from the jehovahs witnesses we will be confronted with opportunities to learn and grow.
we dont know where life will take us.
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Lady Lee
Well it has been an interesting year for me; some heartache; some growth; and a lot of change. Regardless of where we are on our journey away from the Jehovah’s Witnesses we will be confronted with opportunities to learn and grow.
We don’t know where life will take us. The best we can do is accept the good things and good people into our lives and learn to set new stronger and healthier boundaries for the things in life that hurt. Those things that hurt might be a job or a family member. It might be health or financial problems.
Some of our choices may turn out well for us. Others may hurt us. But we can learn from those choices. They aren’t mistakes if you learn from them.
My youngest daughter is still shunning me. My relationship with my oldest daughter and her husband and their children is better than ever.
One important thing I have learned is that I need to let people know what I want or need rather than waiting for them to do something or guess at what I want. Old habits die hard and I was taught as a child to never ask for things. I guess we are never too old to learn new lessons.
The other thing I have realized is that when hurt I retreat. In the past that has meant I crawled inside myself and licked my wounds. This past year I took another approach and reached out for help immediately – almost. I have also taken a lot of time to just take care of me. It has helped me enormously. I am moving forward stronger than ever.
I send you good wishes for the coming year, a lessening of the pains you carry and a life you can feel good about.
Happy New Year
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Why is there no honorable way to leave the Watchtower?
by BlindersOff1 inquestion on yahoo answers.
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http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=anclzlcycbuplqjrk3y_iw3sy6ix;_ylv=3?qid=20121025091418aazgvbn.
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Lady Lee
Why?
Can you imagine how many people would leave if they were allowed to leave with zero repercussions? How many would have ever gotten involved if they knew ahead of time all the rules and things they would have to give up including family.
If they make it a sin to leave then people feel trapped. And boy do they have them feeling trapped
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Never, never was 100% in
by pontoon inover 40 yrs baptized, service, builds, talks and talks and talks that i put countless hours of prep into, elder, meetings, assemblies,----you all know.
but through it all i never bought the whole truth idea 100%.
no matter what it was, meeting, service, assemblies, i just couldn't wait for it to end.
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How Suicidal Thoughts can take over your Life.
by Lady Lee inhow suicidal thoughts can take over your life.. i lived most of my life thinking about suicide.
i have clear memories when i was 8 years old thinking about what it would be like to die.
i went to sleep every night of my young childhood saying the prayer:.
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Lady Lee
Just wanted to come back and add a few thoughts
First I am doing fine. Great in fact. The depression is gone and so is the fear (that I would also lose my oldest daughter)
Second I am continuing therapy because clearly this triggered some issues that I want to resolve now instead of waiting for the next crisis to happen.
And third I want you to know there are resources that you can use if you are depressed or begin to have thoughts about harming yourself
- Many cities have crisis phone lines that you can call to talk to someone. They are listed in the front of the telephone book. They may be called crisis lines, depression, suicide action hot lines. If your city has this service check your phone book front pages. Some numbers will get you to people who will come to visit you and get you the help you need. Maybe that is just the visit or just the phone call. But if you need temporary supervision they may help you to the hospital or some cities have special crisis shelters where you can stay for a few days.
- If you are depressed much of the time there might be a chemical imbalance that requires medication. You will need to see a doctor who will prescribe something. If that doesn't work you may need to try a different medication. Brain chemistry is very complex and what works for one person might not work for you so be prepared to work with your doctor to find what works for you
- Get counseling. Many places provide counseling free of charge of on a sliding scale. Hospitals can often charge a lot less (not free in some countries).
- Universities often have counseling programs. They need people for the program where you will be seen by an intern. Generally the interns are in their last year of internship and they are well supervised. McGill University was charging people $5 a session.
- I got some excellent counseling at Catholic Family Services. $1 a session. At no time was I "encouraged" to go to church. It never even came up although we did discuss the JWs.
- Many therapists use a sliding scale to determine how much you will pay. I had a flat rate but always took 1 or 2 people for free.
- Psychiatrists are medical doctors who have specialized. Like other medical doctors they can prescribe medications so if you do need medications you can try your family doctor and he might refer you to a psychiatrist.
- Psychologists do not have medical training. They do not prescribe medication. They specialize in psychological problems and use a wide range of therapies. Finding the right kind of therapy for you us important.
- Behavioral therapists will focus on the ways you behave in certain situations. He or she might help you devise a strategy to deal with family members who shun you. If you get very anxious before seeing family then this type of therapy might be good for you.
- Cognitive therapists will focus on how you think about things. They can help you identify false beliefs that you act on to your detriment. As ex-Jehovah's Witnesses there are a lot of false beliefs we have about ourselves that need to be confronted. Generally we have been labeled as bad, sinful and the worst - apostate. A cognitive therapist can help you see your way though this kind of thinking. You are not evil for leaving a religion.
- Affective therapists help people cope with their feelings. Depression, anxiety, anger issues easily fall into this category.
- Eclectic therapists use a bit of everything.
- Social workers, family therapists, counselors, pastoral counselors often focus on family issues. They may use many of the same strategies that psychologists use. They cannot prescribe medication. While psychologists main focus is on the person, this third group focus on the person and their social environment, family, friends and the wider community. Their fees are often a lot less than the first 2 groups. This group of therapists might be an excellent source of help.
This list is based on how the system works in Canada. It may be slightly different in other countries. Do some research. Find the right kind of therapy for you and the right therapists. Therapists are just like everyone else. We don't automatically "fit" with everyone else. If the "fit" isn't right keep shopping for someone that you think you can really work with.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. You are hiring a person to help you with some serious problems. If you wanted your car fixed you would make sure the person you hired was the right person to fix the job. Same thing goes for therapists. Hire the right person for the job.
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undubbed.com is closing down - grab some FREE WT FILES while you can
by nicolaou init never took off and with the impending launch of apostat.es it was looking out-of-date anyway.
i'll be converting it to host my new blog.
the new apostat.es site will be fully responsive (will work flawlessly on iphone, android and other tablet and mobile devices) and will have a purpose!.
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Lady Lee
I couldn't get in either
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How Suicidal Thoughts can take over your Life.
by Lady Lee inhow suicidal thoughts can take over your life.. i lived most of my life thinking about suicide.
i have clear memories when i was 8 years old thinking about what it would be like to die.
i went to sleep every night of my young childhood saying the prayer:.
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Lady Lee
beautifully said 00DAD
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How Suicidal Thoughts can take over your Life.
by Lady Lee inhow suicidal thoughts can take over your life.. i lived most of my life thinking about suicide.
i have clear memories when i was 8 years old thinking about what it would be like to die.
i went to sleep every night of my young childhood saying the prayer:.
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Lady Lee
It was hard to decide to open this topic with oompa's death so close to aso many here. So I hung on to it for a couple of weeks to give you all breathing time. But it is a topic that we really need to talk about. There are far too many JW or ex-JW suicides that we hear about or know of.
I would like to say something about the survivor guilt that many of you might be experiencing.
Survivor guilt happens to many people when someone thye know takes thier life. You wind up thinking that maybe you could have said or done something to stop the person and get them the help they needed. You emotionally beat yourself up because you didn't do anything. The guilt can become overwhelming and this actually raises your risk of suicide.
We do not have the power to stop someone who is intent on harming themself. We can support, offer suggestions, encourage them to seek professional help. But we can't force people to accept those things.
- JWs are taught that if they die before Armageddon, they have a chance at the resurrection.
- Some people think it is the only way to stop the pain.
- Some people believe that if they die people will realize the harm they have done. They want to make them feel ashamed or sorry for the shunning or other abuses they had done.
I have thought all of the above. But I have to remember that I would have missed so much if I had taken my life 30 years ago.
- I would never have gone to college or university.
- I never would have learned that I was smarter than my parents told me I was.
- I never would have had the wonderful and satisfying career I had working with survivors of various abuse.
- I never would have seen my children grow up or seen my grandchildren.
- I never would have taken a cruise to Alaska (a lifelong dream) or piloted a plane.
- I never would have had opportunity to explore the many creative talents I seem to have.
- I never would have made it to the internet and found out the real truth behind the the WT walls.
- I never would have been a part of this forum which has helped me so much and I would never been able to offer so much in return.
- I never would have gone to many conferences on abuse issues or the last one where I got to speak about the invisible victims of JWs.
Much was taken away from me but much has been given to me as well.
I turned 60 this year. I hate it and have been having a hard time with it. I am at a stage where 2/3 of my life is over. The women in my family all live well into their 90s. My grandmother poassed away a couple of years before she turned 100. My mother is still going strong. So I might have another 25 or more years to go. I have to try to see the positives that will occur in the coming years. Who knows what my next experience will be. I want these vcomign years to be filled with new interests, new experiences, new friends and hopefully both daughters and my grandchildren, and maybe a great grandchild or two.
I have plans and I want to implement them. My life is not over.