The whole point of "recovery" in my view, is to live in harmony with all facets of my life, including the people I associate with in the family and otherwise. That does not negate lively discussion and debate and sharing of very diverse opinions, however!

Doesn't matter what the specific need for "recovery" is all about, the end result is to have coping skills that give us the power to conduct our life with unconditional love, gratitude, forgiveness, joy, peace of mind, and any thing else we want in our lives and choose for oursevles. I think everyone wants those kinds of positive things in their lives, at least, on some level.

In the case of leaving the LDS Church and changing our entire belief system, it is most likely going to require some serious thought about what it means to be authentic without that overlay. Just deciding what is not believed is not enough. Now an entire new world view needs to be constructed.How that is done usually is an evolutionary process. Old automatic thinking scripts need to be deleted and replaced with new ones.

How we get there is going to partly follow our natural humanness and what kinds of ideas/notions that allow us to change how we think, then we can change our behavior and how we view our fellow human beings.

I'll share what works for me. There is no hard and fast rule about right and wrong, good or bad in my view. My opinion is that those kinds of ideas need to be tossed out to start with.

It's about finding thoughts and thinking scripts that get us where we want to be.
Where we want to be, how we view the world, our family and our friends, associates, etc, is a list we make for ourselves as we change about Mormonism.

I know there are a few things I want:
I want a minimum of negative emotions in my life. Why? Because they are exhausting, upset others around me and don't get me where I want to be -- with peace of mind, and the ability to use humor, which is always the Best Medicine. But, we are all human: we experience a wide variety of emotions, naturally.

It's easier to be negative. I think we all know that. It's easier to follow others who are being negative also. I remember a saying from high school about people who were being negative described as: "Lining up and smelling arm pits" -- pretty much describes the uselessness of being negative. Unless, you are getting paid to "smell arm pits" !

There are a few things I know I want from my life at this point -- besides health to enjoy the rest of my life:

1. the ability to live with peace of mind and contentment in my personal life (It's not consistent, it's a process.)

2. the ability to see the humor in life -- medically it's been proven to have great healing qualities , and I need those.

3. the ability to know what authentic joy is all about- the kind that fells you to over flowing... doesn't happen every day, but when it does, it lasts for a long time.

4 kind, courteous, civil relationships. -- as many as possible.

How I get there is practicing, and using the power of:
unconditional love, gratitude, forgiveness - etc. And that too is a process.

My hope and wish for those changing their mind about their belief system, and leaving the LDS Church is that they find a way to get what they want in their life that is the most rewarding and enjoyable life they can create for themselves.

What do you want in your life after leaving the LDS Church and changing your mind -- discarding your beliefs in Mormonism?