Many who are considering leaving the Witnesses are frightened by the thought itself. Let me tell you though, there is nothing to fear. At first though you will possibly feel like there is. Before you jump to conclusions that we made an easy and selfish decision, read on. Would you put yourself through this for no reason?
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Suddenly life becomes a blank page, ready to be filled again. You find many of the things you learned as a Jehovah's Witness suddenly become irrelevant. Before you held knowledge that could save lives, now to most it means nothing. The world seems a vast place, with nothing to cling on to. Did you make a mistake? This is possibly too big for you to handle.
You fear both the known and the unknown. Nothing seems safe at first. Every aspect of everyday life comes with its own problems. Work, Education, Family. The Kingdom Hall, filled with familiar faces seems so far away. The safety of your former life is calling you, and part of you wants it back.
You feel guilt like you've never felt it before. At best, you may have lost yourself some close friends, at worst you fear you may have driven a wedge between you and the creator of the universe. Who else is there who feels the same as you? You're alone!
While your mind is buzzing away, with thoughts about the Watchtower Society intruding every part of your life, dominating your very existence. You thought that you'd chosen freedom, but instead you feel like you've discovered Purgatory.
Eventually, after some 'loose conduct' to help ease the pain, you find life begins to pick up pace. You no longer miss the busy schedule dedicated purely to one Organization. You feel like an outsider still though. You might as well sit outside and look in on celebrations such as Birthday's and Christmas. There is a feeling in the pit of your stomach now though, that everything will be okay, so long as you can justify your new way of life and find answers. Your certain there are answers out there, but you musn't rely just on what the internet says. You need solid evidence and you won't rest until your holding it.
You may have toyed with the idea of attending Church, but you worry will only isolate you further from your remaining friends who are still in the truth. They won't condone you fratenizing with Christendom. You may as well tattoo 666 on your head. Church could be your methadone though. A substitute for the meetings. Don't rush you tell yourself, that decision can wait. (Actually it can, forever if needs be).
The odd Brother and Sister express their concern. They've not seen you at the Kingdom Hall for a while and there are rumours flying around that your reading apostate literature. What do you do? Lie and say that you know that they have the truth or try and justify yourself? It's a pressure you don't need. Go on, just one meeting to keep them off your back. It won't hurt.
Stood in the Hall, you look around feeling worse than ever. You feel disjointed, and out of place. Everyone is friendly enough, but you feel like there's a wall surrounding you. Something doesn't feel right, maybe it isn't the truth, or maybe your in the wrong and not the organization? When pressed, you can't seem to summon the courage to explain your reasons for 'disappearing' and even worse, you haven't yet found anything to back-up your decision, that is except for those articles on the true destruction of jerusalem and information on false predictions by the Watchtower.
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IF you've read this far, all i want to say is this. Life is to be embraced. Whether you believe in God or not, nothing is black and white. The world is beautiful. Sure, there is violence and some scary things to deal with but with the right approach you can handle anything. There are answers and if you are patient and read with an open mind the truth will become apparent.