How did leaving your religion affect you?

A lot of people (especially youngsters) are now actively denouncing religion and living as atheists/agnostics. Pretty sure there are many such people in this sub too. Just wanted to know your stories - what made you start questioning your religion, how did you find the courage to leave it, what impact did it have on your family and social life? I'll start off with my story - I was born into a religious Muslim family and grew up in the Middle East (so obviously had a hell lot of religious exposure). I've attended Madrasas for 7-8 years and was fairly religious. I started developing tiny doubts and skepticism regarding religion right from my teenage years but kept them suppressed and didn't dare to voice them out loud being in an extremely religious country. Also because I felt like questioning religion was a huge sin. Anyway after my 10th grade, I shifted to India and started reading more about my religion in depth. Also watched a lot of critics' videos on youtube, read articles, went through different interpretations of verses etc. and found a lot of it unreasonable, unacceptable, mysoginistic and violent. My transition from a believer to a non-believer was gradual and happened over a course of 3-4 years - initially stopped wearing a hijab (headcover), then stopped praying, then stopped fasting, finally stopped everything. I've thankfully had the privilege of belonging to a family that isn't too orthodox, so even though they're not happy with my irreligious ways, they've never tried to force religion on me. Ofcourse I was subjected to endless lectures, emotional blackmailing and all but never gave in to all of that. And now I've found peace in agnosticism and have no fear in openly admitting to relatives and extended family that I've left my religion. What are your stories?