For me it has been a sense of not being in the "right skin". I know that it has been there since I was a child. It was initially vague but overtime it got stronger and really took shape once I started connecting the dots. I remember watching movies and recognizing that deep inside me there was this conviction that I wanted to be like the girl in the movie. Once I watched a documentary about gender dysphoria when I was around 15... I watched this girl tell her story....and it simply clicked inside me...that that I knew that what I had been feeling, had a name, and that it was not impossible to become that person. However, I did not feel that my family nor the society in which I lived would have accepted it and because of that I tried to hide it. Over time I realized that the dysphoria was manifesting in every aspect of my life, if not because of something that reminded me that I was female inside, then because it made me so sad and depressed that it affected things no matter what. Sexually, I felt that I was on the wrong side/wrong end. I was making love the woman "I wanted to be" and in the way "I wanted to be made love to"....and this can only go so far without cracks start appearing. I also started feeling like as if I were not only being dishonest with myself, but dishonest with people around me,... feeling that I was presenting as the person I was not started feeling like a lie. I also started experiencing a need to share and express feelings, but feelings, for example a deep need inside to be able to cry. Feelings became difficult to deal with and work became the only thing I had that could hide it (but not forget it), being immerse in it kept my mind busy...but after sometime even that stopped working and I felt exhausted. In addition dysphoria comes with highs and lows, moments of certainty and moments of extreme doubt and fear. And this can turn into a mental grinding wheel. But over the last year I have started to notice some consistency in the way I feel and this has helped me gather the strength to stop, say to myself "this is who I am" and "and this is who I want to be". For example, I have noticed that at nights, after a day of work and "thinking" on and off about the dysphoria and my feelings I am invariably exhausted; but when I wake up in the mornings, I have no doubts, not a single day, not a single doubt....as if when I can put mind to rest, everything clear up and only my true self and true feelings come out...it is hard to explain, I just wake up feeling female, from the moment I start regaining consciousness, in that limbo, I just feel female...and of course it is hard when I fully wake up and realize that I am still in the wrong suit. Looking at myself in the mirror has also become harder...I hate the male side and look for the female side...growing my hair has helped a lot...and now I want to do more
I have been going to therapy for over a year and that has helped me explore things more, lower most of the walls and connect with who I am and how I feel and not be afraid of expressing these things. It allowed me to start dressing in private and then when going to therapy without feeling guilty, and the truth is that when I can do it I feel great, I am not anxious, and most of my worries go away....as if another person, the real me could finally come out. I am finally ready to start my real external transition, but it has been a long road.... My only advise is: No matter how weird it feels, how inconsistent it feels at times, if it comes back to your mind it is for a reason, listen to it and do not be afraid to talk to somebody about it....and explore it. And take your time, do not rush. Getting to know your self is too important to rush through this process. Of course I wish I had done that 20 years ago, but I am glad I have taken the time to explore it and get to know myself, and also allow people around me to learn about it and about how I feel and what I want to do. Yes, there are times when I wish I had done this 20 years ago....but I am still young and it is never to late to take care of things...and the years spent have not been totally lost (I have to beautiful jewels!)...