I shared this on Facebook and thought to share it here. A note of inspiration to the transgender person struggling with self, self-image, and doubts about transition and/or embracing yourself:

First off, you're a beautiful, perfect soul. <3 I remember not too long ago I was in your position. Unsure, scared...no, terrified to embrace the woman I knew I was inside. Fear of everything engulfed me: if I was really trans, how my friends/family would handle it, how my jobs would handle it...The list can go on and on. If there was a fear or doubt I could have had, I had it. Anxiety and depression became my very existence for years.

But a radical idea came to me one day that changed my thinking towards embracing myself. It was knowledge that one day, I would eventually die. We all know this to be true, but it may seldom come as an evaluator in the process of making a decision involving the matters of the heart. I thought more and realized a simple truth: my death day could happen at any time for any reason. If I didn't do what was true to my very being, I would die with regret. With that, radical acceptance came. Knowing I had precious time to live that could be cut short any minute made me make my mind up to transition and embrace myself. Was it easy? Hell no. Was it full of challenges? Hell yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Your heart knows what it wants. Go for it. You've got one life to make it happen. I believe in you and I support you in whatever you decide to do with your life. Just stay true to yourself

I give that two thumbs up!

Findingreason, your note describes exactly why I recently decided to make the leap and start my journey. I have two older bothers, one with stage 4 colon cancer and another who just started a series of joint replacements. I realized that no one knows how much time they have left and you will never have more time than you have now.  I decided to transition with hopefully enough time left to experience the world as the person I always wanted to be.

My own mortality was one of the straws on the camel's back for me.

For 50 years I thought I would take my gender issues to the grave - now no more.

Thank you for the note.  Maybe someone else will be inspired.

   I will have to raise my hand and join that group of people who had to consider ones own mortality in making the decision to start transition. That feeling of running out of time to be who I have wanted to be for so long did play a part. Why it didn't happen sooner than it did I have no idea.  Perhaps it was an unconscious feeling that I didn't have enough time the first two times I was told I only had months left to live. Or maybe my decision was spurred on by the relief when I heard that I will live longer than originally thought after under going a harsh treatment that in itself could have killed me.  At any rate something told me I needed to get this thing underway before my time does run out.
   It's now or never and I am doing this. It's time I became me for real.

Hugs,
    Jeanette