We are a support site and it works pretty damn well. Yes there are people struggling but we have people who help others and we have people who achieve and let people know, not in a boastful manner but in an uplifting one.
But here are many who struggle and cannot see a way out. We have newbies seeing nothing but the horror of losing. Losing everything. parents, family, children, job. No future. NOTHING.
So I thought it was time to start a thread where we celebrate our achievements.
I'll start with a few p, and this was motivated by Jenny Day calling me a few minutes ago with good news.
Jenny Day; some will remember her and others will not. But Jenny was diagnosed as TG at an early age and has achieved a lot professionally wise. A few years ago it all went sour with the financial meltdown in the UK and terrible health problems with loved ones. Despair set in.
But Jenny Day is a fighter. Being TG doesn't matter jack ->-bleeped-<-, if you want to achieve you fight until you do so:
Jenny has just been accepted into medical school in the UK. She should graduate in about 4 years.
I warn you to buy an emergency first aid kit if visiting the UK in 4 years time!
Janet OBrien is a woman who has been on the site for a long time. When I joined she was a very popular Admin, left and came back.
Bad times came. She had nothing left, except guts, will and determination to try and to work hard and - she achieved. She now has a professional qualification and a career.
A very exceptional woman.
Being TG doesn't matter. It is not a block. We can do anything, as long as we work at it.
So never despair. Keep trying.
Let me hear how you have managed. Let us celebrate our successes, let us inspire those who despair.
Being TG isn't the end of life, the world, career or anything.
In fact on this site we have more support and love than most people ever get.
Hugs Lets go.
INSPIRE ME
I will speak for myself, though I know a number of others have good things to say.
THis might seem a small achievement but it's huge. Huge for me and for any others who have made it this far.
I remember when I first came here, a head full of a life time of information, gleaned from almost everywhere. All mostly useless.
Someone on here addressed me as she.
It was much later, after many others here knew so much who I actually am I was able to say, for the first time:
I'm a GIRL!
No guilt. No worry. No feeling like anyone (who matters a jot) will laugh. I can say it now because it's true.
Small victory, but still a high. And one which I hope others can achieve.
I've come to the realisation that being trans is only as big a hurdle in life as you allow it to be.
I have been very fortunate in my life. I am a Mechanical Engineer, P.E., I have a dream job (what I wanted to do all my life), I contribute in helping the mission of our enterprise ( which is to support others in the enterprise do fantastic things for others).
Maintaining focus from day dreaming and being creative is difficult for me. I never opended or looked at my high school or college diplomas. School was difficult in many ways. Mathmatics was very very difficult. In college I was accepted in engineering school but needed to take remedial math. I achieved:
Remedial math, A
calc 1, A
Differential equations, B
Calc 2, B
Calc 3, A
There were 12 people in my discipline at school. There were about 60 in my grade, all disciplines combined. I went to an inner City University that is partially publicly funded. I paid for my schooling and worked.
I'm pretty early in the process so my achievement may not seem that great, but it's huge to me. I had done lots and lots of research on all this and some of it scared me a bit. That combined with still feeling shame about myself made transition look like an insurmountable obstacle. I finally achieved self-acceptance and it only took half my life to do it! I've stopped trying to fight it and have decided to just let things happen. I'm happier today than I have been in a long time and it's because I finally see me for me despite the little extras like clothing and padding and stuff.
I'm not transitioning at a fast pace but my wife is enthusiastically supportive and my kids see me present as women regularly with no emotional drama or issues. We are getting ready for low dose HRT and are excited about it as a couple! I think if I continue my pace I'll be there in 5 years (age 43) and that makes me happy!
Love this thread idea! I find myself scouring the Internet for TG success stories just because they really do inspire me.
I've been in transition for just over five years and hoping to have surgery by the end if this year.
My success story is this:
I was one of those who lost everything due to my coming out and I do mean everything! But... I did rebound and now I'm doing better the I ever have. I was unemployed at the beginning of my transition and out of work for two years. No one would hire me because frankly I didn't pass as a woman and looked even worse as a man after a year on HRT and laser. Finally in 2010 I landed a job as a machine operator and within 90 days got promoted to production manager. From there I applied for and received a job making twice as much with an international aerospace manufacture as an aerospace machinist. I'm now full time and completely stealth at work. The corporate recruiter is the only person who knows I'm trans and assured me that this information would never be shared with local management.
I went from being unemployed, without transportation, and homeless to having a job paying more then $80k a year and a car and home that are both paid for. No credit card debt and only $10k in old debt left to pay off.
Simply put. I love my life.