Great to hear from you, SE!  I'm so glad that you are in a good place and have so much going for you.  Taking control of our own lives is so different from the pente way that we all learned and I think it's more scary to us than to non-pentes.  I've unashamedly cut all contact with people in my life who caused me pain or who were constantly triggering me because of their zealous religious behavior.  That was scary too, in the beginning, but afterwards I experienced such serenity and such a sense of well being that I wished I had done it long, long ago!! 

It's a journey of discovery when we begin to learn about our real selves and who we REALLY are outside of the confines of pente-ism.  I learned about my strengths and my weaknesses and it allowed me to position myself in life to be happy and successful.  It sounds like you've done the same and I'm really, really happy for you!!