You know, sns, a CO once said that we should not feel guilty about the bad things that we did before we knew the truth. His reasoning was that whatever we did was what molded us into individuals that became receptive to the truth. Our past actions are what brought us to "who" we are right now. That message was so freeing to me.
Now, I am not saying that growing up in the truth was wonderful. But you cannot throw out all the benefits that you received growing up as a JW. You are shy yet you were forced to face that fear alot (theocratic school, door to door); you learned principles of life that you still follow --- just cuz you are not following rules anymore, you still treat everyone you meet with the principles that you were taught.
And who knows, maybe your mom would not have been the kind of mom that she is if she didn't have the truth. There are all kinds of things that "coulda" happened if you didn't have the JWs. You just have to move on and be grateful for who you are now --- remembering that all your past experiences have molded you into who you are now --- and I like who that person is, so does your BF.
Do you ever feel stupid?
by Sassy 22 Replies latest members private
-
simplesally
-
Aztec
I'm dumb as a brick!
~Az
-
starfish422
Sally, I think that's an excellent point, and great to keep in mind about so many aspects of our lives. My childhood may have sucked in terms of being forbidden to do many "normal" childhood-adolescent-teenage things, but the truth is, I like who I am now, and I would very likely not be who I am if I hadn't gone through those 18 "character-building" years. LOL