I think back on the time I was in.
And the "lost years" - the time after I'd been kicked out and was in deep depression and incapable of sustaining anything. Incapable of returning to my pre-TWI career, making any decision or anything. The burden of guilt laid on me in TWI-2 was vile.
I've missed out in marriage, in opportunities to bear children, financially, professionally.
I was ... quite a nice person before. I became difficult; and after getting tossed out like a used diaper, became even more difficult to be around. Meltdown.
Now I think of what I have gained.
A deeper understanding of reaching out to others; of being compassionate, non-judgmental, of seeing the other side, and of a richer relationship with God, who has always been there for me, even when I was at my utmost lowest - a state of mind I would not wish on the person I hated most.
I think I've been into parts of my mind that I wouldn't have ventured into before.
And I think I'm a better, nicer, more caring person than I was before.
TWI is, without doubt, a cost.
But having paid the price (and we all have!) what to do with what you got? Make something positive out of it. !!!
If nothing else - it shows you how NOT to live life; what to be wary of; how easily you could become like that bully in TWI.
It gives you something to fight against and something to fight for.
And I stilll say: some of the most awesomely wonderful people I've ever met have been ex-Way people, because of their genuine passion for the things of God and their efforts to live life in a Godly way.