One more positive thing, it makes you immune to cults.
I realized a positive outcome from my JW upbrining!
by scarredforlife 21 Replies latest jw friends
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scarredforlife
scarred for life is my original screen name.
I am on a different computer. I had to create a new account because I didn't know my password. I have been on this board since July 2008. Screen name is very similar.
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MMXIV
scarredforlife - you predate me considerably but a belated welcome anyway!
I'm sorry that you have had to search so long and hard for anything positive. Tells a big story in itself. I know that many on this site have experienced some terrible things as a JW and that probably includes your goodself.
I think I've come off fairly lightly in comparison to others, losing time and potential talent to the truth but did get some positives. I learned how politics works in a small social sphere and how to deal with certain people types - this has helped me in the corporate world. I learned how important perception is - not what you do but how others perceive you to be doing. This again has been really useful in business. I also had some good times with people, almost because we were trapped in the framework of this dangerous belief system.
I don't believe that recognising some positives in any way diminishes the negatives.
MMXIV
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scarredforlife
Hi MMXIV,
Thanks for your post. I agree that recognising some positives does not diminish the negatives. I am very glad that you have found things that you learned that have helped you in the corporate world.
If I think back to the congregation we were in when I was between the ages of 3 1/2and 10 we had some good times. There were several families with children about the ages of my sister and myself. Our families had good times together. It was like a community. If I think about just those times the memories are positive.
But we moved to another town when I was 10. We never had anything close to that feeling of friends and community again. As my sister says, it was a nightmare.
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MMXIV
Hi Belinda
It seems to be really hit and miss whether you get into a congregation that welcomes and involves newbies or has cliques. I think there might be cultural differences too. I've only been to a few cong's across the pond and they were very friendly but equally straight laced - unable to cope with a sense of humour. In the UK I've seen some cong's that had cracking individuals who could have a real laugh as well as those who were very pc. I guess you go the crap kind at 10
Quick question - I'm assuming your sister has also left - have you been a help to each other and has any more of your family left? Are you close with your sister as a result? Oh and did you manage to hook up with any people you used to know??
MMXIV
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scarredforlife
MMXIV,
I have been out for a long, long time. When I left I cut off all contact with any JWs. I don't miss any of them. The only ones I have continued to have contact withrecently is some aunts and uncles and a few cousins. I have found maintaining a relationship with any of them to be impossible. My life is so different from theirs. They live in that robot world of JWism. There is no common ground.
My sister and I do not have a relationship at all currently. We did talk for the very first time a couple of years ago when my mother was very illabout our JW upbringing. It was a relief to finally talk about it. I think she was even more negatively affected than me.
After I left, my parents became somewhat inactive. My father died very suddenly. He had not attended a meeting in about a year when he died. After he died, my mother never attended another meeting. We did not have a JW funeral for my father. My sister and I refused to have one. You can imagine that that was like a bomb went off for my mother and her family.
Long,complicated story. I hate the JWs.
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flipper
SCARRED FOR LIFE - I agree with you. To most Jehovah's Witnesses - the governing body and alleged " faithful slave " = Jehovah & Jesus. It's ridiculous. As you say they are just humans like us, they bleed red like the rest of us. Nothing special. Thus it's the " cult mind control " which deceives witnesses to look at the leaders of the WT society as Gods. They are totally duped and sucked in. Peacce out, Mr. Flipper
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serenitynow!
I have some positive outcomes, I guess.
1. Because of the TMS, I have a love of public speaking. Although, because of all the "must-nots" in the WT I was not able to cultivate those skills and pursue a career in broadcasting like I wanted to.
2. I have pretty much no fear of approaching people I don't know.
3. Because I was always the "outsider" and thus often made a spectacle in school, and everywhere else d/t no flag salute, no holidays, etc., I have no problem with being the odd one out when it comes to standing up for things that I believe in.
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exwhyzee
Yes, it stands to reason that there would be positive outcomes from being a JW. Some folks swear that bieng a Boy Scout or having been on the local Little League team, saved them from a life of ruin as well. I think people benefit from following a plan....PERIOD. It doesn't mean that plan has to be the absolute answer to all lifes universal problems to be of benefit or that it will work for everybody all the time, or for the rest of ones life but at least it is a means of getting a person down the road past any number of obstacles until he has gained enough insights of his own.
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brotherdan
Very good point. We can't follow men. We all should have learned this from the WT. ONLY follow the Bible. If a dirty, mentally disabled man from the street preached the truth about Jesus, we should listen to his message. But we should not follow a MAN or MEN (like the GB). Hopefully we all have learned this.
Many people in various religions have not yet learned this. Maybe that is our ministry... We need to teach them to follow Jesus ONLY and not MEN. Eddie Long's followers seem to follow HIM instead of Christ. All Christians should be opposed to this viewpoint, and try to sincerely help people that love men over Jesus.