When Leaving is the Right Thing to Do

There has been some to and fro about marriage, and I thought exoalc had a great point:

"Sometimes divorce isn't a failure, but the most courageous step one can take. And on the flip side, staying in a dead-end, abusive, traumatic, explosive and soul-sucking marriage is the cop out for being the person you were created to be."

Once a therapist (yes, I saw a few, to great benefit) told me something along these lines "the success of a relationship is not only in its duration." A window opened in my mind.

How does this apply to our relationship to our former churches? Isn't leaving Laestadianism like a divorce (for some of us, quick and for others, long and drawn out)?

Can we reconsider our relationships to Laestadianism as successful, in some ways if not in ways that kept us there?

From this perspective, I can be grateful for my childhood in the OALC. It helped make me who I am. By giving me the experience of being an outsider, for example, it actually enabled me to become an outsider to IT, and to have the courage of my convictions when they are not shared by others.