i usually delete these type of emails, but thought it was an interesting analogy and i thought i'd share.... .
a young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her.
she did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.
This thread and another had me doing some searching for the author of a quote I was thinking of using regarding adversity:
"This, too, shall pass"
It's commonly attributed to the bible. But, guess what, it's not in there.
Just thought I'd mention that.
Anyone happen to know where it IS from? It's become rather ubiquitous.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
i give up... well amost.... simply lost my perky sparkle.
4. got a new job (oh this was the only good thing last year).
20. mom has more surgery.
Ok, over my pity party now. Thanks for listening, think I needed to vent a bit. Damn it, I have been through way more shit than the last year, and I will do it.
What's amazing is that you still can sit back and have a positive outlook - you have a very strong spirit.
Sometimes life just gets that hard. And you can't do anything but, completely numb, go through the motions for a while. I can't even say it'll get better, because, you know, sometimes it doesn't.
But, if you can still find joy in things, you'll do okay after all.
We are all here for you if you need to talk, too.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
i hope everyone is having a hell of a lot more fun than i am tonight, for i am here all alone, doing nothing but staring at the computer screen aimlessly lost in thought.
Ah, kewl, so you do play games.
Try something like Tribes, then. It's played on the net, so everyone in the game is an actual person playing somewhere (plus, you can chat and taunt people and such). It's adds a lot to the game when playing against actual people instead of the computer. It's an action game, too. Couple ways to play - 'Deathmatch' where the player with the highest kill to death ratio wins (every person for themselves), and 'Capture the Flag' where there are two teams/bases, each with a flag, and the teams 'score' by grabbing the enemy flag and touching it to yours.
Or, try picking up another single-player - Deus Ex rocks. Or, try Jedi Knight II - when you get the lightsaber, it's played third person like Tomb Raider. Plus, the force powers kick ass. Nothing says fun like pulling the guns out of the hands of a half dozen stormtroopers and then swinging a lightsaber around, slicing them all in half. Or, on Cloud City (Billy Dee Williams does show up as Lando), using the force push to toss some foes off the edge.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
thirty years ago today, i walked down the isle of the kingdom hall to be given in marriage.
surprsingly we are still married!.
david was 20 yrs old and i was 19. we had been baptised about 6 months earlier and had been dating since i was 14 and david 15. i had family who were jws and i became really interested when i was about 17. i managed to convert david within a year or two.. once we were baptised we were pressured by the congregation to get married as they didn't think it appropriate that we should keep dating, year in year out "without marriage in view" - though we had no money nor did either of us have a full time job.
Awww, Butal, you know you really wanted a WT wedding
Walking down the isle to a kingdom melody describing how 'marriage is god's arrangement' or how the wife should be submissive to her husband!
('submissive to her husband' - OMG - how 18-century!)
Incidently, "by him it was designed" is a google-whack. Not to the lyrics, unfortunately.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
thirty years ago today, i walked down the isle of the kingdom hall to be given in marriage.
surprsingly we are still married!.
david was 20 yrs old and i was 19. we had been baptised about 6 months earlier and had been dating since i was 14 and david 15. i had family who were jws and i became really interested when i was about 17. i managed to convert david within a year or two.. once we were baptised we were pressured by the congregation to get married as they didn't think it appropriate that we should keep dating, year in year out "without marriage in view" - though we had no money nor did either of us have a full time job.
Well, I *did* have a WT wedding, and the reason/circumstances were very similar to yours. Both hardly working, very little money to spend, family not really supportive (elders certain the marriage would fail, blahblahblah)
We actually DID spend the $500, though. It's amazing how little we were given in gifts from our witness 'friends'. Hmmm...amazing not really the right word. Insulting? Embarassing?
We did end up leaving the org last year-ish, and are working on our fifth year together (hardly compares to yours, but hey, you gotta start somewhere).
Being DINKs without 'the truth' to hold us back, we do enjoy vacations with each other about the continent quite frequently (that's North America). I think we've done pretty well of it - especially considered the failure everyone predicted our marriage would be, and the complete lack of support from ANYONE.
(That, BTW, is the reason my wife drifted out - 'If this is god's organization, and they claim to represent love, why does no one in the organization ever actually SHOW any genuine love??')
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
can someone pls help.
is mothers day (& fathers day) celebrated by the jw's?
if it is not, can you provide a scriptural reason for the decision.
...not needing a special time when you HAVE to buy anyone a gift, but that you can do it anytime....I wouldn't say he is an extremely selfish kid, yet there is some sort of generosity that is missing in him. He has never been taught to give
That is exactly the problem, and why Hallmark, et al created Mothers Day and such. Card companies are in the business of getting people to give gifts, and people just WEREN'T giving enough gifts for them, so they 'created' a few holidays.
People - indeed ALL animals - are naturally selfish. Unless someone is TAUGHT to give, they won't.
And the watchtower and awake aren't the kind of things people want to have given them, sorry.
but a day set aside for it, makes sure that it happens
Couldn't have said it better.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
note also what is under the "what's new" sub-heading.
http://www.geocities.com/thewitnesslink/links_hp.html.
actually you have to scroll down and click on the palm pilot link sorry.
I had to remove the dreamcatchers from my car because of the pagan origin
Hmmmmmm...I suppose pentagrans are right out, then?
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
like many of you, dear friends, i have several j.w.
siblins.
i almost lost myself many many times in trying to hang on to a relationship with my mother, which was always controlled by where my status was in the org.
if they knew how I really felt about the org. they wouldn't even acknowledge me
Ummmm...it sounds like you are just passively dealing with their attitude?
Why not bring up all the stuff in the news? 'Hey, look what was on the front page of CNN two days ago!', 'Gee, I was doing some research on the UN at the library, and you won't believe the connection I found with the WTBTS', 'If Jesus said to keep doing this is remembrance of me until his return, and he returned in 1914, why are we still celebrating the memorial?', etc.
You don't have to come out and claim you're an apostate or something, just force their hand. Keep feeding them information at a rate they might not be comfortable with. Maybe some will see the light and leave, and maybe others will stop talking to you altogether.
Either way, though, you'll at least have some closure, and you might do some good of it.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
i have recently met a wonderful man.
he is a jw, and has been all 25 years of his life.
i am not, and have not even known any all of my life.
The only way they will accept you is if you become one of them. In that case you get to be chaperoned whenever you are together until you are married
Oh, and tell her about how they regulate what couples are allowed to do 'in the bed' once they ARE married! Hope you like missionary sex!
(Of course, that's not saying nothing else COULD happen - he is, after all, a guy. It's just that afterwards, he'll feel all guilty and have to confess IN GRAPHIC DETAIL to the elders exactly what happened to make him feel so guilty!
he/she will have "guilt" in their conscience and the only way for him/her to make it right is to confess to the elders
And that's the hardest thing, and what will be so confusing. The 'world' (that's 'normal living' to you and me) is obviously very tempting, and their beliefs start wavering. Their brainwashing has to be recharged from time to time, unfortunately, a LOT of things do this.
1) Circuit Assemblies and District Conventions. Bout half a dozen of these a year (IIRC - it has been a while). He'll be BIG-TIME guilt tripping after one of these and seek out elders to confess to
2) Circuit Overseer or District Oversee visit. Members of the cong tend to get all holyed-up when they come. Depends on the size of the circuit/district as to how often this happens a year.
3) Major world news that fulfills their version of bible prophesy. BIG-TIME guilt trips after this. And, keep in mind, their HQ in New York is good as spinning pretty much any world news into 'by the way, this is what we REALLY meant with this prophecy we made, so this news does fulfill it!'
4) If he is seen to be drifting away - he will get elders visits, who will encourage him to repent, etc. Depends on how 'in' he is as to what kind of effect this will have.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
i hope everyone is having a hell of a lot more fun than i am tonight, for i am here all alone, doing nothing but staring at the computer screen aimlessly lost in thought.
Unplug the "evil" piece of technology and:
Nonono.
Play more Quake. There's nothing more therapeutic than firing a rocket into a pack of 6 evil alien fiends and covering the walls with their blood
SYN's got the idea here. Buy some PC games. If shooters aren't your bag, I understand 'The Sims' is incredibly popular/addictive among the female set. As is 'Everquest' - that one is played online with players from around the world.
Myself, I find relaxation in shooting strangers (and coworkers) in the face with a disk launcher. Ahhh, Tribes.....
Oh, hey, try adventure games, too. 'The Longest Journey' is probably the best out there now - my wife is rather addicted to it, and it should run on just about ANY PC.
Xander F
(Unseen Apostate Directorate of North America - Ohio order)A fanatic is one who, upon losing sight of his goals, redoubles his efforts.
--George Santayana
