by Freeof1914 21 Replies latest jw friends
It was a happy/sad roller coaster for me for about two years. The happy stayed longer and longer and now is my normal.
Sure I'm alive so have bad days, but my overall is happy. I can say I'm more happy now then I EVER was as a JW. Sure I played the happy pioneer part, but I wasn't. I'm deeply happy with who I am and what I am doing with my life. My friends are those I choose, not those that are JW's but may be unhealthy for me. I don't dread the future, but embrace it.
It's a journey for me. Never a fixed place, really. It hasn't been easy, but then I've lost a lot in 'people' terms. I will always be scarred by the WTBS, and am learning continually to accept and live with that.
The freedom to speak, think, read, debate, act, enjoy, choose...etc....is so wonderful though, having the blinkers removed and seeing through the fog of indoctrination is an absolute joy. I wish there weren't so many regrets, but they're the consequences of previous bad choices and decisions.
Yes, I have to conclude, in the main, 90% of the time I consider myself very 'happy'. One thing is for sure, I would NEVER go back.
Good luck to you.
Loz x
I'm very happy.
It only took a few months to get there, thanks to this site.
OMG , I can not begin to explain the happiness i feel now compared to when I was a witness .
It was a process though . I felt the heavy weight lifted off of me right away just because I finally made the decision to leave, and followed through with it . However you do not leave a way of living and magically change over night . I think it took me three good years to stop having emotional swings back and forth . It also depends if JWs are still involved in your everyday life ...having to deal with them on a daily basis can seriously hinder your recovery .
The relief from the release of guilt ,fear and anxiety so common among JWs makes life truly enjoyable now . I don't have a fantastic career ,and I do feel I wasted the best years of my life. However what is left is all MINE to do with as I see fit ,and not some publishing company . I had always been one of those good little sheep that did what they were told to do until I reached a point that I did not know what I really wanted in life anymore . I was living someone elses dream not my own .
It has taken a few yrs to really discover what do I reallly think about many issues ,and what do I really like and dislike . My smile is genuine now and frequently I just smile when I am driving alone in my car ,because I am just that happy now .
Good luck with your journey . Be patient ,move forward ,try to look back less ,and less . BE HAPPY
Just about every religious organization pronounces that the way to true happiness is within their organization which they self identify themselves with.
Staying in the flock is protection from all evils, with is part of the propaganda indoctrination that these organizations try and infuse into people's minds.
There's an established premise to lure people toward these groups by using tactics of coercion, such as happiness in a paradise where
everyone is smiling and content, printed on the cover of a magazine or pamphlet. Once they've been lured into this control group, the individual goes
through an indoctrination process to lure others into the group, further developing the organization's power as well as financial support.
The WTS. like other religious groups uses tactics of fear and danger for anyone to step out of their controlling grasp.
The problem of course is the WTS. is just another religious inspired fraud being perpetrated on to the public and is endeared to exploit and manipulate
people for labor and financial support by the WTS. publishing corporation. There are millions living today who are quite happy without being
associated with a religious organization and some who are of course, its up to you where you want to be and where own personal integrity
stands.
Im not completely out yet either but im happier now than i ever was in. My advice, take it for the 2¢ it's worth, is to take Godly principles and apply them. Your faith is your own as is your relationship with god. Be loving and kind.
I am so much happier outside and free of the Borg the two states are almost incomparable.
That is not to say I don’t have struggles or bad days, or sadness but what I do have is what every single person on this earth should, and that is the right to ‘be.’ To think, to feel, to live my life as I so choose; the Borg will tell you that that kind of ‘selfish’ thinking is the antithesis of what is righteous and good but they’re wrong. Not only are they wrong about that but they use that notion as a scare tactic to foster an ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude between the ‘righteous’ and ‘unrighteous.’ Bullshit.
There are good and bad people in the WTS organization and out; the big difference between those two is the ones ‘out’ get to think for themselves.
I am so happy I left. I have never, ever, for one second regretted my decision to leave. In fact quite the opposite, I wish I realized sooner that the strength I needed to walk away was one I possessed all along.
~ Fortis
It is a journey. I had some really rough patches trying to get on with my life. Now that I'm in university, I've gotten free counselling with a good psychiatrist. That has been very helpful along with the support here. My worst days now are still much better and happier than my best days as a JW ever were.
Looking back at my old days, trying to be "happy" as a JW was like trying to polish a turd.
I truly am now. Like Billy said, Its a journey, and like any journey its a walk into unknown, but that is what makes it so special. Of course, you will make mistakes. There will be times you wished you've had remote from the movie Click in your hands. I have, and I believe many have too. Eventually though you will find your peace and find that thing that you are. I was watching this doco yesterday about Freemasons, they have this beautiful saying "Know Thyself" I believe everything boils down to that. That moment you truly know what you are about, everything will change and byproduct will be happiness and peace. Simply because you will live the best version of yourself, without religion or overlords.
May I also recommend a great book by Sir Ken Robinson The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
I felt elated and like a load had been lifted when I finally talked to my family about my feelings.
I must warn you though that this trip is a rollercoaster. This is a cult after all, they don't let you leave just like that. My life is dreadful right now but at the end of the 'river of shit' I know I will come out clean.
