Are You Content Within Yourself?

by AK - Jeff 48 Replies latest jw friends

  • Hope4Others
    Hope4Others
    have to be.....Every where I go..There I am..................................Laughing Mutley...OUTLAW

    Oh outlaw you are so comical...

    Love ya,

    hope4others

  • LouBelle
    LouBelle

    Initially when I left the organisation I felt very very loney - there were nights when I cried about everyone I had lost, everyone I had know was a witness and they were all shunning me. There were times when I considered going back because of the ache in my heart.

    However as time went on and I started learning more about my strengths, my weakness, confidence in who I am grew, I spent my time reading/researching. I started meeting new people, making one or two good friends. I've grown to be comfortable in my own skin, I don't mind the quiet times at all, as a matter of fact I look forward to them. I am not alone / lonely. My life is full of meaning. I'm living it true to myself for a change. My life is full of joy. Full of love.

    Happy

  • Dorktacular
    Dorktacular

    I guess I'm content. But, a little less weight and a lot more money would be nice. :)

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    I'm a bit puzzled at the question, but perhaps I am overinterpreting the phrase "within yourself"...

    I'm much of a "loner," but I would not describe my being (happily) alone as being "content within myself". I tend to feel more (trapped?) "within myself" in social roles and relationships which make me more "self-conscious" than I really enjoy to be. "Personal" questions and expectations from others constantly require unsatisfying self-definitions and self-justifications. When I'm alone I more easily "forget myself" and focus on something else -- be it "ideas" or concrete surroundings. So I'd rather describe my "loneliness" as without than within myself...

    (Not sure if that makes sense to anyone...)

  • AK - Jeff
    AK - Jeff

    Hi Nark -

    Well there seems to be several themes that have branched off from the original question. In general they all include the idea of being able to deal with having less so called 'friends' around, than the inflated number that we thought we had as Jw's.

    I didn't mean it in the sense of 'self-absorbed', but more in the sense of satisfaction without the input of many other people personally in your day to day life [a lot that many of us have inherited as a result of leaving Jw's]. I suppose it could have been titled "A you happy with less friends?" but that did not carry the flavor of what I was trying to express at the moment.

    Jeff

  • hillary_step
    hillary_step

    AK-Jeff,

    I think we can spend many fruitless moments of emotional time trying to change what we are into the person that we feel will make us content.

    This is imo a self-destructive route to walk. As soon as we learn in honesty to accept who and what we are, festering wart to saintly virtue included, our lives will grow closer to contentment.

    I am content with whom I am these days. I know many people whom I consider to have 'better' personalities than my own, I also know many people whose personalities I find obnoxious enough for me to comment on. This is the human condition, but unless we learn to live in the minute and not in the impossible hope of a sunnier tomorrow, we will find that our lives have gone by too quickly for comfort, with very little contentment to show.

    The rush from the womb to the tomb is not a walk, it is a sprint, and we will all be yesterday's child soon enough.

    .....'only connect the prose and passion and both will be exalted'.

    HS

  • AllTimeJeff
    AllTimeJeff

    I am not content at all. I never have, I tend to be restless. The good results of this part of my personality is that I was able to not accept at face value the teachings of the borg. Being content would have been horrible. I would still be in a cult.

    What I am looking for I call Peace. I don't like the idea that god doesn't exist, but I see no evidence that I should. I would feel better, but feeling better isn't as important to me as what the truth of the matter is, or at the least, what facts are in evidence on any matter.

    As far as people go, I am glad that I can accept people for who they are. That is cool. I feel lonely often, but it beats having fake friends.

  • HSS1971
    HSS1971

    I was df'd in 97 and I found myself alone around 2000. I turned to heavy drinking and smoking pot. I guess that got me into a type of crowd but I'm still a loner. I'd love to have a decent paying job and a beautiful, loyal wife. ONLY then will I feel content. As of right now, I only feel content when I'm either tipsy or stoned.

  • doofdaddy
    doofdaddy

    It's a good question... After leaving the jws behind, I used my discontent to spur me through the mental/emotional lethargy of that lifestyle. It was like a fuel that had to be spent. After facing death a number of times, a wise person (my deeper "self") told me to stop jumping in and worrying about the consequences later. It has taken years for this advice to truly sink in and guess what? Contentment grows in proportion to the modicum of wisdom earned.

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