My religion is simple...

Let me start by saying I don't believe one God is better than another, or that one religon is superior to the other. I also don't believe you have to be one religon or another. I grew up in a catholic school with religion being forced down my throat.  Both sides of my family are very religious, so I didn't really think I had a choice in what I believed in. I do have some good memories of going to the catholic school, but for the most part I remember the rejection, feeling like an outcast. I felt like I had my mothers sexuality tattooed across my forehead. I remember one parent who would only let her daughter come to my dads house so my moms "gayness" didn't rub off on her. After being with the same 25 kids for five years my family business wasn't a big deal anymore, until we blended into the public school system... It didn't take long for the  hundreds of new kids I was surrounded by to start picking on me in the halls, leaving nasty notes in my locker, harassing me online and anywhere else they saw me. I felt like I was being punished for my moms sexuality. By the time I made it to high school my head was so screwed up, I had no self confidence, no self worth, and felt like no one understood me. From around the age of 11 I had been seeing counselors, unfortunately I had never found one I connected to, and trusted. I can't even tell you how many we tried, I was just constantly telling the same story over and over again. By this time I had completely given up on god and any belief in anything. A couple years ago I tried figuring out what religon I would be a best fit with, which one had the same beliefs I did. As that search became exhausting it hit me, I don't need some one else's religion. I know I have a higher power that I believe in. I know I don't have to fit into a specific religion, I know what matters to me and what I believe in. I know that love, compassion, equality, and gratitude were all my religion needed. If you haven't noticed yet I like to make my own rules, my own ways and my own paths. Even though my family is very religious my husband and I chose not to have our kids baptized catholic like everyone else in the family. We didn't believe in baptizing them in a religon we didn't agree with. That was our choice and we feel good about it. The power to realize you have a choice in every situation is a very strong power, you are allowing yourself to love yourself and not force yourself to do something or be somewhere that doesn't make you feel happy or at peace. I don't carewhat religion anyone chooses to be part of, I encourage everyone to have faith in something whatever it may be, along with faith in yourself, always believe you can and you will! I will continue walking with my love soldiers and maybe one day I'll find a predefined religion I want to be part of, but for now I'm perfectly grateful believing in my higher power. Be Grateful.