Hey, just hoping I can encourage my friend (a long-time lurker) in some way during a difficult time. I'm trying to help my (anonymous, genderless, of mysterious location...) friend appreciate the joy of being true to yourself and thus discovering many kinds of freedom.
It's a rough time, more so for some than others. I had it pretty easy I think, during my disfellowshipping, as I had a lot else going on in my life and all of that was just background noise. I'd also come a long way and decided to make a go of life. It's paid off in more ways that I can put words to, but I'll try...
- love
- intellectual freedom
- time!
- no more cognitive dissonance
- true friends
- exploring my interests
- planning a future I'm actually going to live
Okay my friend, you will probably see right through my agenda, which I suppose is to get as many loved ones out of the cult as in is my power, but to be honest it's worked for me and that's all I'm going on - I was unhappy then, I'm happy now. Pretty simple formula really. So applying it is the hard part, and I hope that you can make the 'fade' work for as long as you need to, but if it ever comes crashing down around you, I hope the pain passes quickly and you get the payoff that I did.
So everybody, your turn... how has your life improved, on the outside?