In my opening episode I explain what life was like up until the age of 8 or 9 when my parents became Jehovah's Witnesses. In order to understand how much life changed, it can help to understand where I came from.
Direct Download Here [expand title="Click Here To Show Transcript"] [00:00:01] There are over eight million Jehovah's Witnesses Jay Dub's or J-ws worldwide. I wasn't born one was introduced to it around the age of eight or 9 and would spend the next three decades trying to process what I had unwittingly become involved in ultimately leaving and costing me dearly. This J.W. life is my response to the encouragement I've received to write a book about my life. In my story you're going to learn about this called and why refer to it as such rather than as a religion. You're going to see how I went from suicidal an incredibly anxious to free and happy. Why I put on 50 pounds and how I took it off while my wife and I owed the IRS fifty five thousand dollars and how we paid that off in 18 months. And while that wasn't even the biggest win to come from that time there are lessons to be learned here whether you're in a cult or you're just your average person living life for the SJ doves out there. I hope you find comfort in knowing that you're not alone and maybe this helps you process your own pain for those who have family that are Jehovah's Witnesses. I hope this gives you a glimpse into what they're both involved in and up against. For those that have no ties I hope this broaden your horizons maybe sheds light on the human experience a little. And if there are any current Jehovah's Witnesses that listen I hope this gives you something you need for wherever you are now in your journey. But in the end I hope you find happiness and peace. [00:01:24] You've been through a lot and you deserve it. I'm not a professional producer. I'm a professional housecleaner. You'll find out why that is. And as well as how it is possible even to save my life later I'm recording this as a podcast as a fitting way of telling my story as it was podcasts and audio books that helped me awaken to the realities of the life I was given as a child and that I tried to live up to for decades including as an adult. [00:01:54] So today we're going to talk about my childhood before my family became Jehovah's Witnesses up until I was around the age of eight. I'll give you a warning up front this part of my life is a collection of somewhat disconnected memories and this feels a little bit choppy in places. That's why it's kind of hard to remember that far back. And at this point in my life it's not like I have family to to help build a story around. So it will hopefully become more conversational as we get into more solid memories. But this first part is important. It shows what life was like for me in the beginning of my life. Maybe some of you will find a throwback in here for something you remember as a kid. In the end you can't appreciate the change in my life without first knowing what it started out to be. So you know as a kid started out normally. I was a little boy. I like Spiderman. I like the Incredible Hulk. I remember watching Dukes of Hazzard and playing with my GI Joes. I had a few friends that I remember going to their house and playing with some kids probably from school. I can remember going over their houses and playing although I love toys all I actually ever needed in my life was a ball to give me a ball so it against something. I'll roll it though to myself I could play all day. That's all I ever needed. And sports were a huge thing to me. [00:03:17] We lived in the same neighborhood as my grandparents probably maybe two three blocks away. So there were. We were a pretty close family. We could just walk over there at any time if we wanted. I remembe