I want to say that being on here, I feel some guilt. Becoming a woman is something I don't really focus on a lot, and I even feel like I'm just reading up on transgender stuff to spark my muse. Sometimes, I even believe that therapy is a waste of my time because I don't really have these feelings enough of the time. If given any resources, I will definitely dress as a woman though.
It could very just be one of my many obsessions living with Aspergers Syndrome. I tend to read up on select topics and ideas a lot.
There's nothing to feel guilty about. If you feel you would gladly cross dress then the forum is here for you too, it's not exclusively for people looking to transition.
Guilt & Shame, my two oldest and not so dearest friends.
Like you, I 'Don't Always' or otherwise, am not consumed by the GD. I have seen over these past few years several of my TG support group newbies be that way. I never was. I had doubts. I cried gallons of tears.
I am also thankful I am my personal GD Hell is not that bad.... Most days
'Guilt' is feeling bad about something you did. And what is that? Thinking you are TG? In my book if you think often that that you are... You Are.
Maybe I am, but I don't know if I just got obsessed over researching it.
I'm no expert, but it seems to me that if you feel better about yourself when you do something about it, then it is more than an obsession; it is part of who you are.
If people feel better when they cross-dress or when they start HRT, or when they transition fully, then what they were feeling was real. I have felt the same kind of doubts that you describe. I wondered if I was just obsessing or if I was just a pervert or something. But, when I cross-dressed, I felt good about myself. Now that I have been here on Susan's Place for a while and have in effect come out to myself, owning the fact that I am at least a bit transgender, I feel a great deal of relief.
Perhaps enough relief that I may not have to do any more about it. We'll see... The point is that sometimes this stuff can be really subtle. You might have to dig a bit to see what is real for you.
I'm not going to physically transition but I have found the place where I'm comfortable. Each person finds what's right for them.