Were you given the tools to survive?

by Swan 14 Replies latest watchtower medical

• 

  garybuss

  
  A parent's #1 job is to prepare their children for life. My parents prepared me for death. In that, they were failures as parents. GaryB
  
  
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  mizpah

  Garybus:

  Don't be too hard on your parents. They gave you life. It's a gift that you can use to acheive whatever you want in life. Parents who raised children "in the truth" thought they were giving the very best to their children. For many it was precisely that they wanted their children to live and not die that they followed this course.

  There are no easy instructions for parents to raise children. What works for one child does not work for another. What parents owe their children are love and care. What children owe their parents are love and respect. We all make mistakes during our lifetime. But we should not end up regretting that we failed in our most basic relationship, the family.
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  garybuss

  Mizpah, It's not a matter of being hard on my parents. It's just the facts. Instead of seeing that I was educated, they discouraged practical education. Instead of being encouraging, they were discouraging. They told me, you don't ever have to worry about going to high school, Armageddon will be here before that. 1958 I started high school. Then they told me you will never have to get married and raise a family in this old world. I have 4 adult sons and one grandchild.
  
  As parents preparing a child to live and survive in the world, they failed. As an adult, I overcame their failure. Now as senior parents of adult children they are failing at that too. Anything they could do to be good at the job of parenting they do the opposite. They do it on purpose. GaryB
• 

  Sam Beli

  Dear Tammy,

  I can only add to what others have said: “you are not alone.” Many of us who grew up in JW
  households were not given the tools to thrive in “the world.”

  One thing that I have learned during my struggles to flourish in “the world” is to apply what
  the WTS said, as opposed to what they did. By that I mean that some of the ideals espoused
  in the WT and Awake were not bad. Hard work, giving one’s employer an honest day’s work, not
  cheating but looking for ways to improve matters involving one’s work, study and play are all
  qualities that good companies are looking for. By displaying the “fruitages of the spirit” one
  can often go a long way toward attracting attention from honest, dependable bosses, teachers, etc.

  Even though the fine qualities usually preached in the WTS publications were not seen by the
  R & F JW in their religion’s leaders, they are fairly good guides to above average performance
  in many situations. IMHO, many “worldly persons” are not much better than JWs when it comes
  to morals and ethics and that gives you and me a chance to shine, even though we may lack some
  skills (tools) of the trade.
• 

  freedom96

  The "tools" to make it are out there! Be willing to use them, and apply them properly when you do find them.

  The first is a getting a good self image, and having a positive attitude. You will be amazed at what can happen then.