"Declaring" my Faith

Recently i got the opportunity to sit with some revert Muslims (they will forever be referred to as "reverts" i guess!) and some other people who have been involved in helping new Muslims. It was an enligtening and enriching experience to say the least. SubhanAllah, how Allah chooses people to do His work!
Coming back to the topic however, the general issues faced by new Muslims centered around social life, or lack thereof and acceptance /trouble from family. As far as social life is concerned, we can well imagine how difficult it must be for a new muslim to integrate his past lifestyle with his new values and this generally leaves him feeling lonely. Whereas, some or most reverts face a lot of resistance from immediate family on their new life choice; some actually experience abuse.
As i was hearing these, mostly i was thankful to Allah for my woes are so insignificant compared to so many people. But i was feeling something else too... it was like wow, this happens with me too and i'm a born muslim! albeit to a different degree but the base problem is the same. As i realised this, i had an epiphany... i was just as much a new muslim as they were! I may not have the need to declare my faith but since i have started trying to practice it i have faced similar opposition. This epiphany was a little saddening, as it meant that despite having the advantage of being born to a muslim family, being raised in a muslim land - i had turned away from my faith! May Allah forgive my many sins and keep me steadfast on the right path! Ameen. This write up was for cathartic reasons, but i'm sure many of you will resonate with it - it just reiterates how much harder we need to work and how much we need to worry about the younger generation to save them from darkness of ignorance.
SubhanAllah! Prophet Ibraheem AS, khaleel Allah advised his children to make sure they associate no one with Allah and die Muslim. The same advice was given by Prophet Yaqub AS, to his children and by Luqman RA to his son. These were prophets/pious people, we can imagine the upbringing their kids had yet they felt the need to leave the legacy of Tawheed and correct aqeedah for their children, by verbally advising them. Can you just imagine what we need to be doing with our children, our families or those under our care?
Now that i AM Muslim - i will strive in the way of Allah to make up for lost time and to try my best to raise an aware ummah. There, i made my niyyah - its your turn now :)