I'm becoming more comfortable accepting that I'm transgender

Good morning, olivia55 (@olivia55)

Your therapist may have already told you this, but you have made one of life's profoundest leaps: naming who you are––and naming yourself truthfully, no quibbling, no shading of or ducking from the truth of who you are to appear more like the person others prefer you to be, rather than facing squarely the person you, in the privacy of your own thoughts, know you to be. Some of us go our whole lives and never make this leap.

It took me a long time, more than 60 years. These days, I use little signposts to keep me honest, silly little signposts; for example, when I get up in the morning and go for that first cup of coffee, my mug––a midnight blue mug with white stenciling––says, "The Bronx. It's Where My Story Begins". That simple message, seeing it every morning as I'm about to begin another new day, grounds me, helps to keep me from straying from the truth of who I am; not only from the truth of who I am, but also from the truth of what I am.

I'm sorry to be going on about this. That, too, is part of the truth of who I am: I never know when to shut up. 🙂 But your post moved me. I felt the need to say something. I'll close now, Olivia, wishing you mountains of success and years of happiness!

Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)

Welcome to a whole new world, Olivia. You and I are both blessed with spouses who support our transformation. And you are wise to be working with medical professionals trained to work with members of our community. I'm a 71 year young woman of Transgender persuasion who finally accepted herself three years ago. The miracles of organic chemistry and the medical arts and sciences allow me to express myself in ways I didn't think were possible in 1997 when I was first diagnosed as gender incongruent.
Change comes slowly. You are beginning an extraordinary journey. I encourage you to embrace every moment of it, the joy, the tears, the anxiety, all of it. Because it's worth your mental well-being. And there will be that day, sometime in your near future, when you'll glance in a mirror and see HER, and know that it's ALL worth it.

Thank you and I'm looking forward to that day.

Thank you Ray,I don't think you were going on to much.I didn't know what to expect joining the support group,hearing your story made my day a lot better.

Good morning, Olivia

Did I apologize for going on too long? Well, that's me all right. I get going, and I forget to stop. 🙂 This one I've no choice but to keep short; I've a deadline breathing down on me.

I applauded you for finding the truth of your nature while you'd still time to do something about it––the necessary time, and a reasonably good support system. My story, while different in some ways, is similar to your in its essences: discovering, and living the truth of yourself.

I had one of those … what do they call it in psycho-babble? "conflicted childhoods"? Yes, that was it: a conflicted childhood. Like so many of us––far too many of us!––we live out our lives not only never discovering the falsity of ourselves, but worse yet never even realizing we're living a perpetual masquerade. Instead, we just "buck up," make do, take the anguish and the pain, and go on.

You're one of the lucky ones––lucky, and courageous––who found the wherewithal to say I'm going to fix my life and fix it before it's too late. I applaud you and your brave choices!

Have a great Wednesday.

Cheers!
Ray

Olivia,
Welcome to the family!

I became me at 58 years old (I am 62 now). It has turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Prior to acting on my gender dysphoria, I had difficulty managing my mental health and maintaining family relationships. Now, my overall mental health is much better and I am beginning to love myself.

You will run into new hardships, especially given the current political climate, but I found the benefits to far outweigh the downsides.

I have written a fair bit about my experiences on my Substack. Feel free to check it out if you would like. Be well, and feel free to reach out any time.
https://clararies.substack.com/

Welcome and thank you for your story.
I'll be 61 in a few weeks, I have not had transition surgery but identify as a trans man.
Years of abuse as a child made me a people pleaser, so I never let myself be me. I became what others expected me to be. Since finding the organisation ACA, I was able to come to terms with who I really am and have started living openly as a man.

Sounds exactly like my childhood,to long of a story to get into now. I was a people pleaser to.I found out at an early age that drugs and alcohol make the pain and memories go away and you can act macho and tuff just the way everyone thinks you should be if you're trashed all the time. I'm 56 now and I just realized that my whole life has been an act just to please people,I stopped drinking in 2017 for medical reasons and that's when I started to fade out. I gradually started becoming this new person,the person i would have beat up when i was drinking,lol.I have started to do the things I have always wanted to do like being a woman,at least at home.I have been going to a therapist for a while and there helping me sort out all of these crazy new emotions and I started 1mg of estradiol to help with the dysphoria.I am not as brave as you yet and it sounds like you have been thru a lot of pain and suffering to get to were your at,I'm glad you're happy now and you get to be you, the man you have always wanted to be.

Hi,nice to meet you.
I have a dumb question for you.I have never been in a club or group of any kind so if I'm slooowly transitioning does that mean that I'm in a LGBTQ club,community.Im not sure how all this works and I don't want to sound disrespectful but really I'm new to all of this the only thing I know about LGBTQ is that there's a parade every once in a while. I want to go to one.

Thank you Ray. I hope you have a good day to.
Olivia.