here's a few from me.. no more having to go to stupid boring meetings.. no more having to go knock on doors in field service and waste my time!.
no more mind numbing elders meetings..
I agree with ALL the posts so far ! The major thing I gained by being out, was TIME ! No more time spent wasting away day dreaming at meetings or conventions, no more wasted Saturday's trying to knock lightly on people's doors so they would not answer, no more wasted time with anxiety thinking about what other people thought of me or if I was on some elders agenda.
I have also really enjoyed learning about current events, voting and politics. All things as a JW I was completly unaware of.
hello all, it is nice to have a forum for former jw's and see i wasn't the only one out there having serious doubts.
my parents got into it when i was about 4 years old.
my family was part of the granville ny congregation.. my dad in time became an elder.
Like you, I was told the most important thing in a marriage is that you "both love Jehovah". Never mind the mental and physical abuse or the drug addiction. Thats all forgivable apparently. I also divorced on non scriptual grounds, because mental, physcial and drug abuse were good enough reasons for me.
Now married to a wonderful guy.
Welcome !
me just learning the truth about the truth has just made it hard to even get through a two hour meeting at the the kingdom hall.
i get so sleepy during them and i almost cannot contain it!
the last time i went to a convention, i was still an avid believer but as you can see, that has changed.
I wish I had used some of these suggestions when I was still in ! Being a young girl, however; severly limited your volunteering abilities. I remember eating a lot of Life Savers and taking rigorous notes. One time, my mom slapped my hand as I was writting notes cause she was so irritated that I was writing everything down verbatim.
the subject of feeling nervous came up in sfpw recent thread http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/268270/2/im-curious-when-you-were-asked-to-do-a-demo-for-a-service-meeting-part-how-did-the-request-make-you-feel#.uqgz_0nd13b.
it reminded me of a sister i knew.
you always knew when you got to the meeting if she had a talk that night.
I was paralyzed by fear for my talks. I was an elders daughter so I was giving talks at a really young age and it NEVER got better. Being "graded" never helped. Knowing that I was being judged by some elder, was a janitor in real life, not an English professor (no offense to janitors). When I realised as an adult, that I could take my self OFF the KMS, it was like a revelation!!!
I suffered severe anxiety while I was a witness. Not anymore.
"albert" was 55 years old, and the fifth-born of seven children.
i am the second oldest and babysat him often while he was growing up --- and while i was still at home.. yesterday, albert was out taking his usual morning stroll around his small town, when he collapsed on the sidewalk.
the doctors said it was a heart attack.
I am so very sorry for your loss. My brother is one of my best friends, I cannot comprehend the deep sorrow that would cause to loose someone so close. I hope that you find comfort in your friends and family.
when i was younger i enjoyed reading thrillers.
i've always enjoyed reading history books, particularly of my own country.
these days i enjoy reading books from the best seller list.
bohm: I just got that book (The Better Angels of our Nature) in the mail today! Looks intense. I am lookinng forward to it. I also picked up his book How the Mind Works.
tornapart: Is it wierd to think, if I ever ran out of power, I would not have anything to read cause all my books are "virtual"?
:)
when i was younger i enjoyed reading thrillers.
i've always enjoyed reading history books, particularly of my own country.
these days i enjoy reading books from the best seller list.
I love books on Neuroscience, Psychology, Human Behavior and Development, and Theology. I have an entire section of my library dedicated to autobiographies to running athletes (i.e. Dean Karnazes, Alberto Salazar, etc.) I have a couple fiction books, but they are very few (Amy Tan & Carlos Zafron)
I am currently reading "The Witness Wore Red", which about a womans experience with FLDS. Next in line is "Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence".
I guess I am "old fasioned" cause I love a physcial paper book. My friends think I am crazy when they see the extent of my collection that I have not converted to a Nook. I even think they are beautiful on the shelf.
:)
i used to always see them preaching.
now, it seems as though they rarely are around.
the only witnesses i see, every once in a while, are the hispanic ones..
I see Mormons more than I see JW's. But when I see JW's and if they have any kids or teenagers with them, I always feel super bad for the kids. It reminds me of all the Saturdays I lost when I was their age :(
sorry if i'm stepping on any toes here, but i haven't seen anything positive about home-schooling...at all.
the notion is that parents are taking advantage of the formative years to inculcate more worthwhile values while protecting their kids from worldly influences.
they end up with lazy, socially inept, illiterate duds who haven't a clue.
There was a version of JW "public" school in the Bay Area back in the late 80's/90's. The name escapes me right now. A JW family of teachers opened a school in a couple rooms of a community center and charged "private schoole" prices. I think there was around 30 students attending when I became aware of it. I remember cause my brother begged and got to go for one year. But after one year he asked to go back to public school.
i have learned to stay away from all religion and jehovahs wittness doctrine (that includes the watchtower and awake magazines).
stay away from positions of ministerial servant, pioneer, aux pioneer, elder, and the like.
once you become a full fledged jehovah wittness you are doomed to be unhappy.
gmason972: I was the "happiest person on earth" while in the JW's due to an antidepressant.
After getting out, I am happy WITHOUT the antidepressants.
I agree with your statement that when you cannot be yourself, how can you succeed in a relationship? You do not even know who YOU are?!
Welcome to the Board !
