Inq, thanks for sharing your story. I think you probably left a little bit before I did, in any case it's always nice to see someone 'rise above it' you might say. Maybe we could use the chat room here sometime, the real time factor make a big difference I think.
Reality is a direct product of thought. Everything in the material world is an outpicturing of our mortal thoughts and beliefs. Humankind's most vital contributions to the planet are done on a mental or spiritual level. When you control your thoughts you control your reality.
Spirituality and religion have nothing to do with one another. Religion is a thought from one particular person to another. It is the person who is hearing it that makes it his belief and then his thought, and then it becomes his reality. Spirituality is the thought of the higher source. Creation is a thought from that source, we are creation, we ourselves are thoughts.