Yes because I was a Christian my whole life before finally accepting I truly didn't believe it. I think I had been subconsciously forcing myself to believe it for about 8 years before I actually accepted it. There was an immense amount of pressure to believe in God from my family, plus the fear of eternal damnation. But in the end right before I came to terms that there was at least no Abrahamic God I knew that if God "knows all" that he would know that I was pretending to believe and would probably be damned anyways. So I did the research with less fear and there are no regrets. I think finally saying it out loud too that I was agnostic was really fulfilling too. It seems kinda dramatic but it was a huge milestone in my life because it involved my sexuality too (bisexual).

Yes, I did! I'm surprised by how many people commenting here said giving up religion was easy for them. I went to a christian elementary school, so maybe I was more indoctrinated than most...

When I was religious I found great comfort in the "knowledge" that there was of an omnipotent man in the sky looking out for me and who had a plan for me. It made me feel safe. Also "knowing" there was an afterlife for me to go to made dying a less scary prospect.

When I realised that I no longer believed it was a long time before I could admit it to myself. I felt very alone and vulnerable. Watching stand up comedians helped a surprising amount, making light of what was for me a really heavy topic was cathartic.

I did. My whole life centered around my beliefs. Letting go of them has been, ironically, like being born again.

No. Mine was pretty natural. Being in foster care most of my childhood I went through homes with different religions and each one said the other was wrong. I went along with it and acted the part "believing" like everyone else. I just assumed it was tradition more than an actual belief. I came to hate the strict religious types as well. I was a kid and I was bad no matter what. Somehow I was supposed to know certain things and act certain ways without being taught, through some divine force. I was punished for not knowing and behaving like that.

Of course being told every other religion is wrong over and over you start to realize they don't know who is right or if any are. I was in a bad position and nobody had an answer as to why a "loving God" would do or allow bad things to happen to a child, why I couldn't have a family, and so on. Typical answers were the norm. "Mysterious ways" and "there's a plan" but "he still loves you". I just focused on science and how things worked. The conclusion was obvious very quickly. What's possible and what's probable are vastly different. One is conjecture, the other requires evidence of which we have none.

It was a struggle until it wasn't. I wrestled with the idea for years before I was ready to admit it, and when I finally did, it was a huge burden lifted from my shoulders. The fear of becoming "evil," divine punishment or hell was gone. However, I continued to experience depression as I cut myself off from my religious social circle and worried about hiding my change of heart from my family.

My mother was Pentecostal and my father was Atheist. The trauma from living in a household where those two belief/non-belief systems clashed on a regular basis still reverberates throughout our family.

I escaped early in adolescence, with alcohol and experimentation with drugs. I rejected religion, as my father had, but bore the shame of my mother through her indoctrination.

Did I have trouble? Man, did I!

I didn't have any trouble accepting it. It was a huge relief, actually. I was taking no comfort whatsoever in the idea that horrific things were happening all over the world while some decision-making entity could be preventing or stopping them, but wasn't.

I was never really surprised by my lack of religion. I always found comfort in science and empirical evidence and the older I for the more it began conflicting with religion. That's pretty much when I began asking questions and when religion could no longer answer them I abandoned it in favor of logic, reason and science. Have never looked back since.

I ran for it because it meant freedom to me. Things fell apart rather quickly in my belief system in the beginning. It was later that I realized how much psychological damage early indoctrination had done.

Not in the least. As Neil Young wrote, I've seen the needle and the damage done.

I never experienced any of that.
I was never a believer, and was not raised in a religious family.
But I do know many who did, and I feel for them, That couldn't have been easy in a lot of cases.

I tried to make myself believe for twenty years because my family believed. I struggled with being a failed theist for another ten. When I became an open atheist I finally felt free.

No. I have trouble accepting my religious friends though. It is fucking hard

At first my main concern was along the lines of "but what if I'm wrong?" As the possibility that I was wrong faded, so too did my concern.

I think it depends on how deeply you believed, and on how tied you were to a church community. I wasn't tied to a church community, so I didn't get a lot of the social/peer pressure. However, I did deeply believe, and that was hard to make sense of. I joined a website for deconverting Christians (ex-christian.net) and that helped in the early stages. After that, I just stopped worrying about it.

Nope. I think I was about 12 or so that I decided the religious ideas I was raised with were not meant to be taken literally, with atheism following shortly thereafter. Looking back, I just see it as another part of the process of growing up.

I went to a relatively liberal protestant church during my teenage years, by my own choice and mostly without the rest of my family. I really enjoyed some of the sermons I heard, and likely still would today because the some of the pastors were really intelligent, thoughtful men. Eventually, though, I realized I was just moving with the herd and left it behind. Leaving the community aspect was harder than realizing I didn't believe. Believing didn't come naturally, and letting go was pretty easy.

I think most religious people are faking it... Thier pack animals... But if you ever truly believed... And was really educated in your faith... It's probably harder.
I'm agnostic, not athiest, not even a little, so I really don't have a belief at all.
I find so much comfort and freedom in agnosticism.
I also still like to study religion and science.

If you took comfort in things like prayer, singing to god(s), dancing, yoga or any other practice that gave you peace, it's probably going to be harder than the average person that just sat next to mom not asking questions.

Also, so much has to do with community and what else you have to help you feel safe and secure.

I've traveled a lot... It depends on where home is... If you even have a home.

It depends on how traumatic you childhood and life was and if you have hope for the future.

It depends on if you are raising children on your own or with religious or non religious partners or parrents.

You might even go back and forth.

Religion is a tool all humans use differently.

It's like a gun.
Some cops work in violent neighborhoods for decades and never discharge... Others shoot 3 people in thier rookie year in the same community.

I definitely miss some things about my church days. I really wish I could stomach the nonsense sometimes

I never had any issue accepting the lack of my belief in religion. See, you are born an atheist. You are taught religion. It's up to you whether you believe it or not. Based on the facts I do not.

Your question is like asking:

Did you have trouble accepting you have better health by breathing clean air after you realized breathing the exhaust fumes of an old bus was not good for your health?

Not being tethered to the dishonest faith (belief without evidence) based assertions peddled as truth (Things that can be demonstrated with evidence) is freedom. I figured out religion was BS when I was in early grade school and not being a theist is a title I consider superior to positions dictated by faith based superstition. Those I have helped see the beauty of reason and reality expressed happiness in being free from the darkness of religion.

When the door opened, it was like I was finally me.

No. I mean it was a pretty natural transition and I didn't really even label myself as atheist or agnostic. I still really don't care for labels but I am not afraid of carrying them

I was 8 and had non practicing parents as it was. I had been the only one in my family to go to church on a regular basis. I was beginning to question everything. I started to go to church less and less of over the next few years. Finally leaving for good when I was 13. I still never told anyone for another decade. I didn’t know what agnostic even was.

Not even the slightest problem.
Using reason, I saw its absurdities and moved forward happily.

I had no problem with accepting in lack of believing religious bs. There was a great weight lifted off when I did away with religious bs and believing there a deity watching over me.