by Blueblades 25 Replies latest jw friends
I only have two regrets:
Allowing my parents to bribe me outta school with a car. I left after my sophomore year of HS to become a temp pioneer in 1973.
When I was 18 not saying "no I don't want to marry Dxx" because of red flags flying right and left. But... always a butt.... the invites were already mailed.
All others pale in comparasin
Mostly I regret staying in the religion several years after I knew this was not for me
I regret letting "them" tell me my children could not watch certain TV programs, go to dances, join the swim team , go to college.
Glenny
When I was 18 not saying "no I don't want to marry Dxx" because of red flags flying right and left. But... always a butt.... the invites were already mailed.
ditto
having doubts as i walked down the isle but afraid to bolt cause my grandfather was marrying us
Thank you all for expressing yourselves so candidly. Nic. "MY WAY" by Frank and Elvis, written by Paul Anka for Frank, was what we didn't do back then, 30 long years ago. But now it is "MY WAY".
For all you others, there is a mix of what you have expressed in my regrets also. Thanks for this.
Blueblades
mostly, the education. or better, the lack of it. i was an honor student w/o trying because i knew i couldn't go to college. it was against the "rules" at that time. now i have a successful business involving hard labor. i do OK but what could have been........
I regret getting baptized.
I regret not continuing my education right after high school.
I regret marrying the loser that I did just to get out of the house.
However. . . I think my life experiences define who I am now -- so not everything was a bad thing (in retrospect)
Purza
I regret losing my teenage years to JW
I regret all the hours and hours spent at meetings, field service
I regret how long it took me to "fade" - 4 yrs.
I regret being so angry and holding on to past hurts for so long.
But, I am sooo glad I left when I did. I was still young so I went to college, got married, had 3 terrific kids.
So, to all of you out there who are thinking of leaving... Get out now! You will never regret it.
Evi
Geez, after reading such thoughtful, insightful answers from everyone else, my own is going to sound incredibly childish. But so be it:
I grew up in and around Austin, Texas, a city with an amazing live music scene. I completely regret being a good girl all those years and not going to hear the local bands playing in bars. I mean, there I was, in the coolest city on the planet, and I missed out on the best parts of it! One of these days, I'm going to go back there for a week or two, and I'm gonna hit every bar on 6th street, and Antone's, and Hole in the Wall, and Emo's, if they still exist.
Insomniac - No, that isn't childish, the first thing I thought of was the music scene I missed out on.
I don't have as many regrets. I didn't get baptized. I did escape that early marriage, and I did go to college.
While in college I really found my own voice, I guess I wish that had happened earlier. I sometimes think about the more self-righteous, or hypocritical JW's I knew, or about certain situations that I was put in or conversations I had, and I wish I could have put the woman I am today into the head of the child I was then. I would have given them Truth like they never heard it before.
Not that I'm still angry or anything...
This is one of those "that's gotta hurt" (like in pro wrestling) topics.
Yeah! It's affected my psychology! It's ruined my life! I find it too upsetting to talk on here just now, but I'll make a Simpons comparison... Remember "Uncie Herb." He was rich, cool and smooth talker. He loved talking to Homer and the rest of his family. He assumed he didn't have a brain the size of a peanut. And so he got him to design a car for his company. Then you see Homer spinning around it at the trade show... and Uncie Herb's jaw dropped and screamed "I'M RUINED!!!!!!!"
That's how I feel about what the JW's did to me.
But I think other factors played apart in my life, but the JW's were the straw that broke the cammels' back. :(
The reason why I told you The Simpsons story, is because I always get humorous about things in my life, that's how I feel better.
