Questions about Verizon Nexus 6

I just bought my N6 yesterday from Verizon and I spent some time last night reading up on things but I would like some further confirmation from some experienced users. So I've read a few posts where some have bricked their devices by flashing cm12 while on 5.1. The Verizon N6 came with 5.1 already so is it advisable to not flash cm12? And while we're on that topic, is there anything else you should not do while on 5.1? I was looking through all the roms/kernels and some are not updated yet. So if I'm on 5.1, is it ok to flash a rom/kernel that is not 5.1? And the encryption stuff is confusing as well. I'm sure the device will be a little faster with encryption disabled but is it really that big of a difference? I apologize for being a total noob when it comes to Nexus devices. I've never owned one, I've always had HTC or Samsung. I haven't ran cm since I had my HTC Rezound lol so I'm anxious to run it again. So if someone could please tell me what roms I can and cannot flash and just give me some general advice about this phone I would greatly appreciate it.

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