Posted by:
SusieQ#1
(
)
Date: June 01, 2011 03:08PM
(paraphrased from Buddhism)
I know that for myself, I needed to have a lot of experience with many, many situations, what I call: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - in church, work, organizations, etc, and reach a level of maturity and growth before I could make major changes in my belief system and how I lived my life.
I had experienced raising a bunch of kids, experienced being overwhelmed, exhausted, "worked my fingers to the bone" as they say, and I was at a point where they didn't need me like they used to. I could run my own personal business and take care of myself.
The "stars had to line up", so to speak, before I could get all my "ducks in a row", and go forward with the changes I wanted to make, with no regrets.
I was in my late 50's, a mother and grandmother nearly retired, when I finally determined I could no longer believe the claims of the LDS Church and just over 60 when I changed my mind and resigned my membership. As a convert, I never could learn to "think like a born in the bed Mormon"!
I had a couple decades of life before Mormonism which helped shape me also . I come from a long line of ministers and had considered going into the ministry as a Music Minister (only thing a woman could do in those days) so I was accustomed to a religious family and ecclesiastical leadership.
Timing is important, in my view, when making major changes in our lives that change our whole World View. They also need to be done very, very slowly (if possible) so others in our family can adjust.
I have been very fortunate. I have many LDS friends and relatives (still married to a believer for nearly 49 years-hope to make it 50 next year.)
We are, on the whole, all able to respect one another and be decent (most of the time :-) and keep religion on the back burner and not make it an issue. I'm a believer in the power of relationships and how to keep them, rather than loose them.