Quote from: Seshatneferw on April 23, 2009, 01:20:32 AM
So true. Last autumn, after some four decades, it finally dawned on me that cisgendered people really exist -- that apparently some people may in fact feel completely comfortable with the sex of their body. The next step, of course, was realising that I don't (or cannot) really imagine what that feels like. In that sense I haven't got a need to be 'normal', much as I'd prefer to have the kind of body my mind expects to have.
On the other hand, there are some aspects of being trans that I really like. Looking back, it's been a major reason why I've been able to make choices that go against traditional gender roles, and in a lot of ways it's been good to find my own way, although one result is that the 'I'm not really this and not quite that either' kind of identity crisis applies to much more than just my gender. All in all, though, I think it balances out; being this way is not inherently better or worse than being 'normal', but by now there are a few things that have happened in my past that I wouldn't trade.
Nfr
Indeed, as you say, in the end it all probably balances out.
Your point about how we are 'obliged" to make different choices in life, which subsequently take us down different paths to different places is a very interesting one. Personally, I think this is the hardest thing to accept when one is young, a time in which the pressure to conform is perhaps greatest.
When I talk to friends about my life they tell me how great it must have been to have lived "outside the box" although at the time all I wished for was a steady job and so-called normality. Only in the last few years have I really come to appreciate my situation, and the life it has made me lead. Without my gender situation I would never have been to the places I've been, made the friends I have, and have had, married the people I married, and even come back to Islam.
It's a very acquired taste to be TS/TG both for ourselves and others, but once one learns to appreciate it for what it is it can bring great happiness to oneself and those that surround us. I don't believe in taking it very seriously on a personal level anymore, no more guilt, shame etc. It's a blessing for what it teaches us, and while we may be a despised minority by many, we are also a sought after one by others. If I was a 56 year old straight or Gay man I doubt very much that I would have the interesting and wonderful friends I have, be able to pull the good looking girls and men that I can, and be married to my gorgeous wife. i simply would never have met her.
So let's all be positive and enjoy this wonderful chance to live an unusual life and make the most of it for what it is with gratitude and patience in our hearts.
My love and hugs to you all

-imaz-