| I don't know what Marilyn's got in that pipe, LOL, but nothing about returning to normal is "quick."The reality is, YOU WILL NEVER BE NORMAL. No matter what, you will have wasted years of your life in a cult, and that by itself means you don't fit the stereotypical "NORM".I think you can get to a good level of personal development, and I think with a lot of hard work your personal growth will mirror that.But you will never, ever, ever be normal.And DW I felt the same way the whole time in the cult. Never even cried when JWs I knew died. Just said,"Well I'll see them in the New System anyway." and kept going.Now that I'm out, I see how fragile our lives are, and how tomorrow is promised to no one. And yes, sometimes it moves me to tears.Especially I'm moved to tears when I'm so proud of my daughter and her accomplishments at age 12, and yet I reflect on my own and there was nothing remotely similar. The only thing I could do at 12 was steal (yep I stole gum, candy etc) and sell magazines. I wasted three days a week at church, and I spent my school days defending myself or putting on a face of bravado as though being made fun of about being a JW on a daily basis didn't hurt. And I learned not to care about people unless they let me sell them a magazine.After all, they were going to die at Armegeddon, right? Why bother caring about them.Lisa |