I've been out for about 8 yrs, and I was "robbed" of the first 18 years of my life too. I was pretty pissed off in around 19-23, which involved a lot of drinking and driving-I would purposely get drunk so I can drive. By a miracle, I never crashed or killed anyone (or gotten a DUI), but things began to change when I figured the anger came from within, and it was fueled by my perspective and perception of my JW experiences.



I really don't want to say more because we are talking about you, but I feel totally cool now, and I love all JW's and their little religion, the way I love little children who believe in Santa Clause. I wouldn't be angry at a kid for having that belief, I'll just let him or her be, and be secure in myself that I know that truth. I discovered the anger and frustration could be channeled in different ways: I wrote a novel about my experiences as a JW;I read about different religions;I read a number of psychological theories about the type of personality that seeks out a pseudo-father figure in religion (Jehovah/Jesus);and I sort of adopted a New Age/Hippie attitude about it all-I love my experiences because like it or not, they made me who I am.


I hope this helps, but basically, if you start to adopt a higher ground perspective, and view your JW experiences as a stepping ground to a more mature way of thinking about the world, then you might be able to have a different perspective on it all. You could consider yourself to be like Neo who broke out on his own, and now your in touch with the real reality...