Is This Life All There Is? (page 3)

cofty

WT/JW lives have their bad points but have good points as well. - AnneB

No. Being brought up as a JW has no good points whatsoever.

Magnum

I was about to say what cofty just said; he beat me to it.

I was miserable as a JW. I hated going out in service, I hated meetings, I hated getting up parts, etc. I remember years of going out in service - riding to territories with a car-load of people I didn't want to be with - looking out the window and seeing people riding bikes, in sailboats, on wetbikes, playing in the park, framing houses - all stuff I wanted to do so badly. But on a hot, humid day, I was riding to a neighborhood with a shirt and tie on in a vehicle with weirdos. I was going to spend several hours walking up and down streets knocking on strangers' doors and having them look down their noses literally and figuratively at me. I was going to go home feeling awful. (A number of JWs in my area including all my family have said that the ministry made them feel physically awful. They said they went home afterwards with headaches, feeling sluggish, drained, etc. One brother said it must be the demons making us feel bad so we won't want to go out anymore (always the demons' fault))

I was miserable, but I thought it was going to pay off. It didn't.

I would have been a better person if I hadn't been a JW. I am naturally caring, just, & merciful. Being a JW didn't instill those qualities in me. Had I not been a JW, I could have spent time helping others. I maybe could have been a scientist and made some contribution to help many people. Being an animal lover, I know I would have spent a lot of time trying to alleviate animal suffering (I do a lot of that now). But being a JW actually kept me from doing those things.

AnneB - I can't think of a single good point that came about from being a JW. I think of all the things I missed out on - like thirty years of Saturday morns. My wife and I literally used to like to get the flu so we could stay home on Saturday morn, lie on the couch and watch TV - someting that non-JWs just take for granted.

redvip2000

I look at my mother and see how she wasted her entire life giving her time and her money to the Washtowel. It's sad. Sometimes she tells me that she can't wait until she has her little house in paradise so she can enjoy the rest of her life. For now, she continues to waste time going out and peddling literature. Every single free moment she has is about the org. I've even seen her singing songs from the songbook when she is sitting around doing nothing.

I see my sister going down the same path and i can't help thinking that in her case, there is still time to get out and re-define her life. I'm trying to slowly help her "see the light", but It's not an easy task. I believe the only positive thing about being a JW is that it disciplines you. The lifestyle is so regimented that perhaps it keeps you out of trouble, but not always.

I count my blessings evertime i get home and know i don't have to get ready to go to the stupid meetings, or i wake up on Sunday and know i can just relax in bed.

gingerbread

If you choose to live in the past, you will be depressed.

If you choose to live in the future, you will be anxious.

If you choose to live in the present, you will be content.

Live like today is all there is and you will be happy. We have all been deceived by a group of people who believed their own pipe dreams. They promised a future brighter than anything in the present can offer. I've thought what their remaining thoughts were when they drew their last breaths.

We've talked with close friends and family who have been lifer JW's and are now in their 70's. They all reflect an anxious acceptance of death in "this system of things". It's sad...but it is what it is.

ginger

love2Bworldly

Well I think that being a Jdumb may have kept me from drinking, doing drugs & in bad teen relationships. The reason I say that is because my parents & family were mentally ill & neglected me, and the JW life was the only structure I had. I also suffer from bipolar which I did not know back then. So I would venture to say that being in that religion, as horrible as it is, may have kept my life from being worse at a young age.

I am lucky in that I left at a young enough age to start over again-- early 30ies. But I never went to college and I have a pretty good job with the state of California. If you want a good job, I suggest government work even if it's at the bottom level. That way you can have paid time off, medical benefits, and they are not supposed to discriminate based on age.

love2Bworldly

Gingerbread-- I agree with you. It is hard to stay in the present moment, but worth it when you do.

Giordano

I was reliant on the congo from 13 to 17 growing up because of a violent step dad and dysfunctional home life. It wasn't the beliefs so much just the mentoring and friendships. I was out by age 23 because I was recognized the bullshit I could hear and see.

I started my 7th decade and I am still learning new things and ways to make a dollar or help a person out.

In another 5 or 10 years I hope to be sucking on a morphine drip surrounded by my loving family. Its been a great life but Oh to be 61 again!

Band on the Run

It is true that we don't know the pay off of alternate routes but I find it fair to blame the Witnesses. The culture extinquishes ambition. Generations have known that higher education is worth it. Besides the money which most members focus on, education opens up new worlds. There is something wrong with a culture that focuses only on the ugly and bad. The times are always the worst ever in human history. Our brains are changed just by hearing the garbage.

Of course, the op is not dead. There is much he can do to have a nice life now. As a baby boomer, let me say that never has a generation been better prepared for old age. If we were original Beatles fans, we have the oomph to have younger hearts than previous generations. Our voting bloc should be powerful. I had to take some computer classes at community college. There were many older adults taking courses. You can study for many good jobs. The schools have placement services. Not everyone will come with jobs. A lot of employers don't want 20 year olds. There are good vocational books. So much of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I refuse to play dead. No, I will be my grandmother. This forum should help. Living well is the best revenge. You are entitled to revenge. Sometimes I stop what I am doing and think back to my Witness life, it is chilling. Somewhere along the way I became very worldly.

Heath N

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

The past is history,

the future is a mystery,

today is a gift,

that is why it is called the present.

Magnum

WORDS TO LIVE BY:

The past is history,

the future is a mystery,

today is a gift,

that is why it is called the present.

I can't stand supposedly cute, overly optimistic, unrealistic, shallow poop like that. So today was a gift??? And who is the giver of my wonderful today that you call a gift? It's the JW leadership. They are responsible for my today. They are the reason I got up today and worked a stressful, hard job for little pay. They are the reason I passed up the many opportunities I did through the years.

We were not to supposed to be here in our current circumstances now. The end was supposed to have come, at the latest, by '94. I did what the org encouraged us to. I did it. I lived very simply, never planning for a future in this world. I wish I could relate all the circumstances in which I lived, but doing so might reveal my identity. It would read like a life story in the Watchtower. I pioneered the hard way for a long time. I gave it my all. I quit jobs and passed up others all to pioneer and live simply. It was a very difficult life. And it will be difficult until I die - because I listened to JW leadership and did what they asked us to do.

Some of you say things like 'there are classes that could be taken', 'there are jobs that older ones can get', etc. However, keep in mind that I am in my mid-fifties. You must realize how demoralizing it is to me to basically be starting at the bottom with no chance of retiring when all my non-JW peers are at the top thinking about retiring with great financial security.

The reason I'm basically starting out in life now is that, although I've smelled something foul for a long time, it's only recently that I've come to fully know TTATT. So my wife and I feel like 22-year-olds just starting out.

Is This Life All There Is?

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