burnedout

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Posts by burnedout

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  37

  Trying to Fade, Now they want to interview me on the SAD!!!

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i resigned as an elder some time ago, have been working on fading, the wife is getting used to the new 'me' (not stressed, better husband and father, etc.

  ), been missing a lot of meetings... even received a few statements such as: 'hi burnedout, it's good to see you!!!

  last sunday, i took my one of my sons to the local dragstrip to show him the races, oops missed the meeting.

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  burnedout

  I resigned as an Elder some time ago, have been working on fading, the wife is getting used to the new 'me' (not stressed, better husband and father, etc.), been missing a lot of meetings... even received a few statements such as: 'Hi Burnedout, it's good to see you!!!' or 'Where have you been?'
  
  Last Sunday, I took my one of my sons to the local dragstrip to show him the races, oops missed the meeting. When the wife got back from the meeting, she said the COBOE asked if he could interview the two of us at the upcoming SAD regarding being 'brought up in the Truth...'
  
  The guy even asked her this question in front of another sister. That sister commented about what a privilege that would be and how she never had a part on an assembly. My wife and I have had more than enough time 'on stage' at assemblies.
  
  My wife seems agreeable to doing the interview, but I just can't go along with it...
  Two years ago, I was interviewed at the congo on a part about being an appointed man and was asked 'Would you recommend reaching out for Elder or MS to other brothers?' Of course I said YES, but inside I was screaming 'HELL NO!!!!, I am now an alcoholic and want to drive my car into a tree' (for real). I was already pushed beyond my limit and steering myself towards serious harm.
  
  Similar to another poster here, I gave the Memorial Talk one year ago (reluctantly), gave a million public talks, assembly parts, tons of hours of 'Sacred Service' and now am able to achieve 50/50 meeting attendance without the wife complaining too much. Now these jokers want to interview me at the Special Assembly Day.
  
  Regarding being brought up in the 'Truth': My upbringing was good, Mom and Dad were great, fair but strict. The one thing I regret was not knowing my Dad until I was 10 years old or so. He was always on a JC or other 'privilege'. He cut way back on those activities and all the sudden... I had a Dad. I was going down the same road, but pulled the plug earlier.
  
  I guess I could relate the good things during the interview, but I would hear the inner turmoil the whole time.
  It just seems that there is never an easy way out of this.
  
  This post may not seem like much, but it is part of my journey trying to dig myself out of this life I was 'born' into.
  
  Burnedout
• 
  36

  What was your volunteer job(s) at DCs?

  by mummatron in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  seeing as it's that time of year i've been reminiscing.

  i used to volunteer as i really struggled to sit still all day, even with all the note-taking and sitting next to the deaf loop system and watching the bsl interpreter to try and learn a bit of bsl.. i have.... counted and voided food tokenspacked fruit bags at a sandwich stallcleaned the stadium at opening and closingcleaned and attended ladies toiletsmanned (or should that be womanned?!

  lol) contribution boxeswhat did you do?.

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  burnedout

  Security and cash transporter for food ticket sales (sometimes 10 - 15K in my briefcase)

  Sound, stage, attendant

  Parking lot security in West Palm Beach (VERY HOTTTTT we drank beer in the car, just had to check in by radio every 30 minutes)
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  14

  Did I throw these guys under the bus?

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  over a year ago i knew i had to resign my position as elder because of many reasons.

  i was the youngest elder being 40ish... and there had already been some resistance to my wanting to cut back on the many responsiblities i had.

  i knew that to make it easier for me to resign, there had to be some replacement.

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  burnedout

  Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I know they are big boys, but I know what they are facing. It is interesting to be just a little older than these guys but have 11 years experience as Elder that they don't have.

  Sizemik: great continuation of the Bus illustration. I could see myself getting off the bus and these other guys climbing on board!!!

  Burnedout
• 
  14

  Did I throw these guys under the bus?

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  over a year ago i knew i had to resign my position as elder because of many reasons.

  i was the youngest elder being 40ish... and there had already been some resistance to my wanting to cut back on the many responsiblities i had.

  i knew that to make it easier for me to resign, there had to be some replacement.

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  burnedout

  Over a year ago I knew I had to resign my position as Elder because of many reasons. I was the youngest Elder being 40ish... and there had already been some resistance to my wanting to cut back on the many responsiblities I had.
  
  I knew that to make it easier for me to resign, there had to be some replacement. There were two MS's that were obviously reaching out, and one brother that was reaching out to be an MS. During the course of one year I helped to make sure these brothers were recommended for appointment.
  The two MS's were appointed as Elder and the other brothers is now an MS.
  
  Now that I am off the BOE and recovering, I see the stress building in these three brothers (yes I still attend meetings every so often... family reasons). My wife even mentions that they look like I USED TO!!! I can't help but feel guilty for being instrumental if not soley responsible for their new found high level of stress in 'serving the congo.' I do know they were really wanting these positions...
  
  Have I condemned these men to the same situation I was in?... abusing alcohol, yelling at the family due to stress of getting to the meetings on time so you can 'perform onstage', at the border of self-harm or suicide?
  
  Did I throw these guys under the bus?
  
  Burnedout
• 
  22

  Funniest Thing to happen during a meeting?

  by truthseeker1969 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am sure all of us have laughed at something that happened at the kingdom hall or assembly.. the first one i can think of is a brother giving a talk on voting and saying " why is it that men sit iin pubs and discuss how bad the economy is and the cost of everything and yet when the 'erection" (election) comes up they never do anything about it.. my brother in his best beavis n butthead voioce said " huh huh he said erection".

  we sat for the next 45 mins trying hard not to laugh.. of course, i got the look from the elders and the talk about not laughing.. .

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  burnedout

  One Elder was giving the local needs talk and says, 'Friends, this is a problem that we need to NIP IN THE BUTT!!!'
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  14

  Do you still rush about??

  by watersprout in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was in the wt i was always rushing.... never had time to do anything.... always had the meetings to prep for... dinner to get ready before the meeting... clothes to get ready.... ministry to go on.... there was always something i had to do for jehovah....etc etc etc..... i never sat down and enjoyed being in the moment... i always felt guilty... i would always be thinking ''i shouldn't be sat down i should be doing something for jehovah, he despises a lazy person.

  it got soo bad i ended up in a hole to which i couldn't get out.

  i needed help to function.. after coming out it took a long time to get used to enjoying some ''quiet'' time.

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  burnedout

  I do not feel the need to 'rush about' anymore. I am a born-in that was running at full throttle for a long time (21 years appointed) and busy before that as a teenager. Am still 'in' to an extent (wife and kids, in-laws, etc) but no longer care if I am late for a meeting or just plain don't make it there.

  Finally, I have a little peace that increases each day...
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  22

  Paradise Earth

  by MrFreeze in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so, lets speak hypothetically here.

  lets say the wt is right about paradise earth and the new world.

  if we did live forever, what would happen if we fell off a cliff accidentally?

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  burnedout

  Funny thing about the 'no reproduction' in Paradise. I remember some public talk outlines said there would be no reproduction and some said that there would be. Maybe different jokers making up the outlines.

  Supposedly no more eating hamburgers in Paradise either.
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  15

  Is it normal to spend so much time here?

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i am fairly new to taking a stand on what i have long felt about the org.

  no longer an elder now (big weight off my shoulders), and really find i am researching on this board all kinds of things i suspected and are now confirmed.

  looking back over the years i had many intuitions about some situations and never took action on those feelings.

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  burnedout

  I am fairly new to taking a stand on what I have long felt about the org. No longer an Elder now (BIG weight off my shoulders), and really find I am researching on this board all kinds of things I suspected and are now confirmed. Looking back over the years I had many intuitions about some situations and never took action on those feelings.

  I used to spend all kinds of time working hard on talks and parts, coming up with new and interesting illustrations trying to 'help' others, (always hated field circus) but now I see all that was a waste of my time and energy. Has anyone else realized they are spending a ton of time here confirming what they always knew?

  BTW, things are going ok with my wife regarding how I feel about the org, I have followed the advice of many posters here and have been gentle with my observations. I don't make a big deal about what I hear from the stage, but when she asks me what I think I explain my side.

  Also, I have made progress with not drinking... Thanks to all for their support and help.

  Burnedout
• 
  22

  Funniest Thing to happen during a meeting?

  by truthseeker1969 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i am sure all of us have laughed at something that happened at the kingdom hall or assembly.. the first one i can think of is a brother giving a talk on voting and saying " why is it that men sit iin pubs and discuss how bad the economy is and the cost of everything and yet when the 'erection" (election) comes up they never do anything about it.. my brother in his best beavis n butthead voioce said " huh huh he said erection".

  we sat for the next 45 mins trying hard not to laugh.. of course, i got the look from the elders and the talk about not laughing.. .

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  burnedout

  - Late 70's, filthy trucker cb talk bleeding over into the sound system during the WT study.

  - carrying the mics once, I farted by accident. a brother smiles and says 'nice crop dusting there boy'

  - during sisters talk on TMS, as the two sisters go up on stage during counsel for previous talk, one sisters' chair leg is near the edge of the stage... she cartwheels over and lands upside down, her skirt no longer hiding her black thong. (my hunch about her was right... she WAS hot)

  - fire started in mens restroom by someone lighting a match to burn off remaining noxious fumes. (he did the 'wave the match' thing before tossing it in the trash can) WT conductor stopped the study and gave a 10 minute lecture on fire safety and how JW's should not even have matches on themselves because someone might think we were smokers. (not sure which was funnier, the fire or the lecture)

  - teenagers going out to the parking lot during the meeting and switching license plates on the Elders' vehicles. not sure how long it took before it was noticed. Once a few of the elders noticed related their story about having a wrong license plate, they knew where it happened.
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  17

  I remember an illustration "something" like this in a talk one time LOL

  by therevealer in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my wife stood before me with some items in front of her.

  without a word, she emptied a large jar of mayonnaise and proceeded to fill the empty jar with rocks right to the top, rocks about 2" diameter, then asked me if the jar was full.

  i agreed that it was.. she then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar.

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  burnedout

  I saw a Brother do the jar/rocks/marbles illustration, or I should say he tried... he dropped the jar while trying to pour the marbles in.

  Brothers were scrambling around trying to pick up the broken glass and marbles. The only application the brother could make was 'time and unforeseen occurrence.'