Enduring vs Living

One of the liberating paradigm shifts I have achieved after leaving Mormonism came as I confronted the messaging surrounding the concept of “enduring to the end”. This message is a significant theme within Mormonism often spoken by its leaders to followers. For a religion that pretends to teach that they offer the path to happiness, the truth is that so much of the messaging is subtly negative and often brings suffering to its members, especially the women. Jesus loathed hypocrisy, especially among those who were leading people, and when you read the Bible you see that most of his teachings were actually pointed against the religious leaders. I view the Mormon church as one that Jesus himself would have spoken out against during his time on earth.

Mormonism believes in a heaven and hell, though they use different language to describe these two places. The truth about much of my life while living within the confines of Mormonism, is that it was not a place of peace for it truly was a place of hell for me. I cannot overemphasize how tormented I was while within this patriarchal system of control. No matter how much I tried to do things right, no matter how much I tried to follow - I was miserable!!!

Thinking back to my experience when I was a believing member of the Mormon church, the message of “enduring” signifies that life is meant to be hard; and, for much of my life it truly was. I thought through that lens of “enduring” and so it is no surprise to look back and see that much of my experience was just that - hard. If you believe that life is going to be a place of suffering, that you are here to endure, the sad reality is that you are going to attract a whole lot of suffering into your life. I am speaking from a place of experience.

The good news of life, and not the one that Mormon’s try to pretend at, is that life really can be joyful and free. The weight that religion places upon our shoulders is not the weight that Jesus wanted us to carry.

I believe that what we think and what we believe becomes our reality. Proverbs teaches this reality for it states, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)

Lest you believe that I am still a religious person, let me assure you that such is NOT the case; however, much of my early programming was scripturally based and I find myself today falling back on a lot of those words. The fun in relooking at what I once understood so long ago, is seeing it with new, fresh eyes. In a sense, I truly have been reborn to a new life, a new reality. 

The joyful reality I discovered after leaving Mormonism is that life does not need to be one that we dread waking up to every single day. I truly believe that life can be one of sincere happiness and great peace. The exciting challenge before all who are in the space of discovery and deconstructing from the harmful and false teachings within Mormonism (or any high demand religion), is learning how to create this type of living, working to bring it into reality. 

My belief is that each of us holds the spark of God within us and as God is a Creator, we too hold that same spark to create. Think about how in the Bible the story of the creation came about by THE WORD. Prior to words being spoken, they are thoughts. We can follow this same pattern to learn, to change, and to create.

Now, instead of “enduring to the end” I am LIVING to the end!  I do not have words to adequately describe the liberation and joy that comes out of this space of living. As my mind has healed from so much negative brainwashing, I have come to see the world in such a beautiful way. Freed from the bondage of Mormonism, living as I now live has become heaven on earth for me. 

I thank God everyday that I was able to break the spell that was cast over me while in Mormonism, for now I am truly happy and free. 

If you find yourself in the space of needing support in leaving a high demand religion or if you are needing to learn how to create a reality that is focused on love and joy, please consider working with me. 

The trajectory of the future can look different from the past!

With much love and support,

The Modern Day Pioneer™