what job could you have had?

by sleepy 45 Replies latest jw friends

  • nytelecom1
    nytelecom1

    oooops missed the original post subject

    i would be a model cuz i am 6 2, great shape and damn good
    looking......hey i got an average rating of 9.6 on hotornot.com

    can you do better?

  • thewiz
    thewiz

    My sister, was good enough to be a model and even appeared in some swimsuit ads in Cosmo -seen them myself.

    But she took to hitting the sauce and worse. All part of the same dysfunction that i attribute to the WTBS.

  • its_my_life2001ca
    its_my_life2001ca

    I was prepared to enter university to get my degree in nursing and then wanted to go overseas with CUSO (Canadian Univ. Serv. Overseas) for 2 yrs. Unfortunately, the witness snagged me at the same time. I was told I probably wouldn't have time to finish the course because the new system was near. This was 1970 and my course was 4 yrs. It's a career that can take you anywhere and meet lots of interesting people. I'm almost 50 and have been a glorified cleaner and office worker. Needless to say, it's work that never gave me satisfaction. I'm almost 50 now and even if I when to Univ. The opportunities are not as many for older people. I'm preparing to take a computer course because it's a must in just about any job..unfortunately I hate computers.

  • Seeker4
    Seeker4

    Sleepy, I'm one of those long time (former) JWs who can identify with your frustration. I did cleaning for many years, including washing windows, as I raised my family, pioneered, served as an elder, etc.
    Then in my early 40's I realized that the one thing I really wanted to do all my life I'd never done - which was to write for a living.

    So, I committed myself to making that change, and it ended up coinciding with my leaving the Witnesses all together. For nearly two years now (after a five year effort) I've been writing full-time. This has taken a lot of sacrifice on my part (and my wife's), and the financial problems are far from over. But I am incredibly happy in what I'm doing.

    But I must agree that the WTS's stand against higher education has been a real detriment to a lot of us. It is hard to not be able to apply for or be considered for positions that you know you would do well at simply because of not having a degree. This has certainly impacted our income.

    Self-education is wonderful - but there are usually some gaps in there. And I think that there is also an effect on your self-confidence - it's hard to imagine yourself in certain positions when you've spent a lifetime in menial or manual work. I do agree with several posters here who have written about how satisfying physical work can be for many people, even those with considerable education. But it's not for all, and that was a mistake of the WTS - seeing a certain type of education (vocational) as the answer to everyone's needs. It isn't.

    A good friend sent me this quote recently: "Your work is to discover your work, and then, with all your heart to give yourself to it." That's from the Buddha. And it makes sense.

    So this has been my plan for the coming year - to focus all my resources on my writing and master it. Work at getting really, really good at it. From the technical stuff to the artistic end of it.

    That is a serious challenge, but one I feel is necessary if I'm going to excell in this field the way I want to. I think an intelligent person can make huge strides in a short amount of time when they are devoted to something. A fellow writer recently gave me this metaphor, which is very helpful. She said that instead of thinking in terms of driving yourself through self-discipline to do your work, think of it as "devoting" youself to it. With our religious background, that way of thinking makes huge sense. Think of all that we've given to the WTS out of our dedication and devotion, from the heart? Why not use that same devotion now for our life's work? And I've also come to see that ANY work - even window washing - can be an expression of your spirituality. When you integrate all the parts of your life like that - the emotional, financial, intellectual, spiritual, etc. - life becomes a whole, and very, very satisfying. And from the many posts here, I think that that is what most of us are looking for, where all of our life becomes unified and we're not just working at some job so that we can enjoy a good home and our time off.

    And your age will likely be a huge asset to you, and not otherwise.

    As to an older person having limited opportunities due to their age, I wonder about that. In a few fields maybe, but I also see that the population is growing older, making it easier for an older person to find a niche for their skills. A lot of it is just using your imagination and creativity. Dreaming - and then working on that dream.

    So, Sleepy, I wish you great success in addition to commisserating with your anger toward the WTS. Time isn't going to stop. In ten years we'll all be ten years older, and we can use that time to get our degrees, establish our new careers and lives, or stay stuck where we are. In any case, we'll all soon be ten years down the road.

    And I also enjoyed the books Ginny Tosken recommended, and have them both as part of my library.
    Good luck,
    S4

  • Bridgette
    Bridgette

    Dear its my life,
    Do you know that the average age of nurses these days is 46? They're DESPERATE for nurses. They are reaching retirement age, adn there is no one to even fill their ranks. They can't even build enough nursing schools to keep up with demand. and there's not a real influx of people going into nursing, either. It's actually pretty scary. They jokingly (halfway seriously) told us at a meeting not too long ago (I work in a hospital, though not as a nurse, yet), that "No one in this room can retire". I would go back to school. I am, in fact going back (I had started and dropped out) to school at 31 years of age. I am pregnant, the mother of adn 8 year old AND just got married. I just have to do this. If I were you, I'd look into it. There are a lot of classes you can take online, and they're so desparate, there are a lot of excellerated programs. Once I complete my RN, I can complete my BSN in a year. Believe me, if you were going to enter into a career "later" in life, nursing would be it.

  • thewiz
    thewiz

    I just remembered a couple.

    There was this sister who wanted ot get training in something, banking, finance, secretarial, whatever.

    she asked an Elder, Charlie Cook (self-righteous pompeous ahole), never really did like him. Anyway, he discouraged her in every which way a person could be discouraged. Later a job opening or opportunity comes open for him. As I heard from her it was a job in Conn, USA. Anyway, he either can't take it, or has to up his skills by taking a few courses or maybe a full time degree. If it does that, he's got the job or eventually, one just like it.

    He takes the courses and/or gets his degree and now he's some high paid whatever. she either had to semi-support herself on welfare, because her idiot husband drove her half crazy and she got out.

    Another acquaintance of my told me (from RI, USA) that he was interested in buying a cleaning business and told an Elder in his hall about it. The elder tells hime this-and-that about why it isn't a good idea and that it would interfere with his spirituality, blah, blah, blah.

    What does the elder do? he buys the business and as I understand, it's making him money hand-over-fist. keeping him plenty busy too.
    Naughty boy Joe Kreamer!

    The other guy worked, at a rather well paying job, for a grocery store called Almacs for many years. I've lost touch with him. Anyway the chain of stores goes bankrupt and he lost his job.
    Sure hope everything worked out OK from him.

    Irony

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