When I was in my teens and early twenties I was rather wild and selfish and immature. I made bad decisions in pursuit of a life I thought would make me happy - decisions whose consequence are still present in the background of my life today.

Fortunately, my life path was altered for the better before too much damage had been done. I have a surprisingly good life now and I'm grateful for this everyday. However, I regularly reflect on my past mistakes and mourn for what could have been if I had just followed the better path to begin with.

My choices in my young adulthood were definitely not controlled by my association with Mormonism. But they were still choices that left me with regret and thoughts of what could have been.

The point of my comment is that if you had never been exposed to Mormonism and therefore never directed your life according to Mormon beliefs, you might still have made life-altering decisions that you wish you could take back. Hell, maybe you'd have made choices you'd regret even more!

Perhaps your life has been permanently altered by the choices you made as a TBM. Perhaps the consequences of those decisions will always linger subtly in the background of your life as mine do. That doesn't mean that your life can never be what you want it to be.

Try not to let regret tarnish the time you have left. Your new life may never be perfect but it can still be happy because it's YOUR life to live now.