Feeling Lost

faundy

I used to come on this site a lot more but drifted away.

The thing is that recently, I've been thinking a lot more about my life, and its lack of direction, and purpose. I'm in a good relationship, I have great friends and support if I need it. However, I still feel a massive void in my life since leaving the Witnesses.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a rush to go back there. But I miss having something I truly believed in. Yes, surely it's better to know the truth about a religion rather than blindly following it, but the thing is that I believe in God, I really do, only I don't know if I believe Jesus is his son, which rules out Christianity. I definitely don't agree with the teachings of Islam; the closest I'd get would be Judaism but then again, it's another example of a faith being twisted to meet the needs of man.

So basically I'm feeling down, without direction, and wish I knew that there was more to my existence than my time on this earth. When I think about the fact I'm already a third of my way through my life with nothing to show for it, it really scares me. I want to have a faith, to have meaning in my life, but so far I've come up with nothing. I'm very aware of my own mortality at the moment and am thinking about death a lot more, and wondering if it's simply the answer, whether I'm ever going to be really happy.

Just sharing.

prophecor

Hi Faundy. I'm sorry you're in such an uncomfortable space right now. Many of us get in those dark places in our hearts and minds, as we watch the world sail off the edge. It's a most difficult and dry place where we can find ourselves, especially since we no longer can hold on to the one thing that was worthy of our time, effort and energy. That of service to God thru being JW. I can identify how you might feel. I've been on that road to what seemed like forever.

Much of the world around us do not wish for a relationship with God. It can be a trying existence out here when you know you need to be spiritually fed and all that's available can only be equated with fast food and mini-marts that rob you blind. Jesus said, however, Happy are those conscious of their spiritual needs, as these individuals would be filled. Sometimes, some of us have to get so desperate for God till it almost becomes an obsession within us, before we can find Him, or rather, before He'll allow himself to be found by us. Deuteronomy 4:29

So many promises Yahweh has made in this regard. That if we call to him, look for Him with all of our might, soul and being, He would surely show up. The world, for the most part is unconcerned with spiritual things, and why we have such a void before our souls, now.

Nothing matters except what is truth. Our eternal existence demands that we settle accounts with our Creator. You are not in a bad place. Uncomfortable? Without question. Our discomfort, however, can be used as a catalyst to springboard ourselves into action. The action of seeking for Yahweh while there still exist time. Time is the greatest gift that Yahweh has given us. When we use it to seek out His will for our lives, we can take comfort in the Scriptures that once may have caused us distress.

Please know that I feel for you. I haven't completely come to terms with those same, several things that are disturbing you, but I am dealing with them. None of us have arrived, yet. But keep looking. Keep searching. There's a coverage out here. God wants only what's best for you. He can make a way out of no way. Trust and Believe.

Art

looloo

hi faundy , what do you do for a living ? i know just what you mean and do you know what helped me ? i started looking after people with profound learning disabilities that need literally everything doing for them , my heart really goes out to them and had really put my problems into perspective , i feel more spiritual nowadays than feel the need for a religion in my life and i enjoy giving someone much less fortunate than us something to smile about the rewards are amazing ! why not try it ? its made me appreciate life more despite the jw problems that will always be there but are now less important to me (usually !) good luck xx (im in uk too )

transhuman68

Become a sun-worshipper. Every morning, when the sun comes up, bow down to it, and thank it for providing another day of light and heat. You have been given a life, a sacred time on earth.

That's the best I can do; there aren't any infallible answers.

Alfred

Feeling Lost...

I can't speak to your situation because not everyone feels lost for the same reasons (after escaping the WT). In my case, I realized that the WT conditioned me to think that I needed to become a member in good standing of an earthly organization chosen by Jesus in 1918. I eventually woke up and realized that the Bible says no such thing and that no human organization can self-proclaim itself to be "The Truth" or the "sole channel" between God and man (Ephesians 4:11-16; 1Timothy 2:3-6). But because of the "programming", I felt lost for about a year... What I can say about this is that you'll find direction soon... but don't look for it, it comes naturally over time.

jean-luc picard

Hi Faundy.

May I ask what aspect of a belief in God do you feel a need for?

I wonder if it might be for " a purpose in life" as you said above.

Or a real desire to worship?

The answer to this question might help you orient yourself.

I think that a creator would like to see his children , happy, kind, generous, loving towards his other children etc.

Whilst I do not wish to hold to one particular set of beliefs, I do find alot of the above aspects,

well defined in Buddhism.

As for the meaning of life (wow): Everyone that has ever lived .....has died.

I will too. Whilst waiting for that, and in the same spirit as above, my purpose has become,

to be there for the people I love, so they can count on me, and eventually so they can go on without me,

smiling, when they recall the good times we shared.

jean-luc picard

Thank you for your post.

Its quite therapeutic to put in words what our purpose is in life.

sizemik

I think that a creator would like to see his children , happy, kind, generous, loving towards his other children etc. Whilst I do not wish to hold to one particular set of beliefs, I do find alot of the above aspects, well defined in Buddhism. As for the meaning of life (wow): Everyone that has ever lived .....has died. I will too. Whilst waiting for that, and in the same spirit as above, my purpose has become, to be there for the people I love, so they can count on me, and eventually so they can go on without me, smiling, when they recall the good times we shared.

Great thoughts jlp . . . I hold a very similar sentiment. I felt a deep void for many years also (I guess we all do). I have not studied Buddhism at all but did look to Science and what can be regarded as provable fact . . . beginning with the building blocks of the physical world. I found that at this stage . . . there are none . . . just energy expressing itself to our five senses. Along the way I came across the philosophies of Albert Einstein . . . a great philosopher and humanitarian as well as Scientist. I have not left off entirely reading scripture either, but find myself only drawn to the words attributed to Jesus Christ. Strangely there is almost full agreement between the philosophies of Einstein and the recommendations of Christ as to how one should live his life.

Through different roads, we arrived at a very similar destination . . . and I feel inside no future threat from the source of life . . . rather, a sense of harmony . . . with whomever and whatever that may be.

faundy

Thank you all for your replies; what I always worry about is someone saying "there's no such thing as God. Deal with it." I feel I do have a spiritual void that needs to be filled. I believe there's something more to what I have here on earth and I wish more than anything that I knew what it was.

The problem is that my feelings of helplessness are beginning to impact on my life. I am on an anti-depressant but feel this goes deeper than my regular depression. It's more an instinctive feeling of wanting something to exist outside of my life; I would like some kind of comfort to take away the sense of futility I have regarding my own life.

wobble

Every human is a treasure, no life is futile, yes many could be better spent, but the bad example they left serves a purpose.

What is important is to make your life a success. This can be achieved by working hard every minute of the day to make the world a better place because you are in it.

We all have different abilities and opportunities at this, but as long as we are trying to make other people happier, then our life is not futile, and will feel full of purpose too.

Feeling Lost

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