If you could be 20 years old again

[nikki626]

If you could be 20 years old again with everything you know now, what would you do? Anything different? Just wanted to ask this question so I can do stuff now without having any regrets in the future.

[AllieSF]

That would be a dream come true.

[suzy1]

I would do it all over again only more so! Especially the naughty stuff!:heehee:

[JenniferLynn0370]

...and know what I know now?...I would become a woman, seek out a man, get married, be a mother and a secretary like my mother! I was too scared back then. I wish; oh how I wish...

[Miss Trudy]

Probably not change a lot, been pretty content with my life and how it turned out. I do know I would have spent more time en femme back in my youth when I could get intoall those pretty clothes.

[Tara D. Rose]

Well I'm not so sure about most of it, but just two things, I would have never gotten married, and with knowing what I know now, I would have invested 2 or 3 thousand dollars in microsoft and I'd be a multi millionaire right now, and I would have peace of mind.

[Amanda_P]

I wouldn't change a thing because then I wouldn't be the person I am today.

[Karren H]

I could have been a contender...... if only I had workerd harder on my slap shot than on my makeup....

[Cheryl T]

I would change the direction I took in college, finished my education and had a much better career.
I would search out support groups and be more active much earlier. Where that may have led ... who knows.

[Beverley Sims]

In the climate of the day probably a little more education, probably transitioned, except that I am not male orientated.
That may have been different with therapy and more hormones.
I was on the way to being a very successful woman before I gave up the hormones.

[diannecourtney]

Well if that could be done, I would just wish I could follow in the steps of Lynn Conway, the most beautiful transgender out there. Annnnnd, with all the brains in the world.....Such a thought!!!!:battingeyelashes::battingeyelashes

[Cynthia Anne]

I would be a female all the way! Well as close as possible anyhows!!!!!!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Nikki, That's an interisting thought actually I'm pretty happy with how my life turned out.

[audreyinalbany]

I'd be more comfortable with dressing and I'd be 40 lbs lighter

[TeriAnn]

I would do two things: keep my weight down( no sodas ) and have SRS done. Then I would be then what I want to be now. A full time female with all the working parts. I would also get married but not to a male.

[melissakozak]

I would transition, but then, that was then, this is now...and I have a wonderful partner, my wife, who is allowing me the freedom I need to express myself. So, my life has turned out great no matter what, and I believe that transition would have made things different, but not necessarily that much better....

[Stephenie S]

By the age of 20, I was pretty much set.

To make any real changes in my life I would have had to start much earlier.

S

[Amy Fakley]

I have so many regrets ... but most all of them stem from one thing: not having patience with myself. That is to say ... being too hot to trot. Dropping out of college, because getting out in the real world and doing my own thing just could not wait another day. Settling for that crappy job in a career I never really wanted, just to pay the bills. Not taking the time to really come to terms with who I was ... hiding the TG aspect of my personality from my self, because I was too scared of it, and itching to move past it with haste and get on with "real life". Getting married way too young ... and not having come to terms with my TG stuff first, and as a consequence not being honest with my wife (or myself) up front.

If I'd have just had a little bit of damn patience with myself, I could have made better choices.

My advice: you're 20. Take your time, stay in school. Do some wild things, do some good things. Know yourself before you make commitments (jobs, relationships, etc, etc)

[Leslie Langford]

I would not have pursued a career in management in the manufacturing industry, had I known that over the years, most of the manufacturing plants in North America would be shut down and the associated jobs shipped overseas to the Far East. Too many mergers, downsizings, company closures, and job losses over the years, and continually picking myself up, dusting myself off, and starting all over again somewhere new than I care to remember.

I would also have turned my back on the Corporate world years ago, which to my mind, simply represents a modern form of slavery the way people are treated there nowadays.

I would also have embraced "Leslie" much earlier as I became more comfortable with my transgenderism - and who knows? - might even have come out to more people so that I could have lived more openly as "her" without the associated guilt and shame.

Of course, that assumes that the world would have been as accepting and as open back then as it is now...

[Shiny]

It would be interesting to be 20 years old again. In my timeline I could buy IBM when it was a penny stock, then roll that over into Apple stock and in the mid 80's roll all of that into Microsoft; and along the way be in front of the Dakota apartment building that cold windy evening of December 8th, 1980 to take out that vermin who killed John Lennon while Lennon was still sipping his herbal tea while going over tapes at the recording studio. But, personally, aside from that I would say that life in general most often contains more grief and hardship than joy and prosperity. Or it's the fact that everyone fears getting older; being a senior in high school was always what we were working for but being a "senior" in real life is something to hold off as long as possible--because the next step, a big one, is the unknown. But to go through all of that again? No thanks. I am content to just keep on keeping on and someday move up to the next dimension.

[Gillian Gigs]

The most important thing would be to be more loving and accepting of myself for who I am. The second would be to properly maintain my weight and body mass through good diet and better exercise.

[UNDERDRESSER]

The most important thing would be to be more loving and accepting of myself for who I am. The second would be to properly maintain my weight and body mass through good diet and better exercise.This is probably the only realistic answer. Work on knowing yourself first, and when you find some physical activity you like, ( try them all! ) don't forget flexibilty. I have a terrible time with stiffness, I'm working on it, but it's MUCH easier to keep up, than to regain...

[avant1465]

If you're an old softie - such as I am - go to George Burns (+ "18 again") and watch this sentimental video.....
P.S. Bring Kleenex!!!!

[Kate Simmons]

Ah, been there done that many times over in past lives as both a man and woman. I've grown as a person enough to where I prefer being older and more settled. Too many issues and raging hormones associated with being young.:battingeyelashes::)

[KarenCDFL]

I would have transitioned.

[cyndigurl45]

I would have been the woman that invented the internet and would be the CEO of Google and Marks Z's girlfriend LOL ;-)

[ArleneRaquel]

If I could be 20 again my Arlene persona would have emerged earlier, meaning that I would have likely come out to my wife

[bobbimo]

Would I do anything different??? Holy smokes I would would do everything different!

[monica.missil]

Taken better care of myself would be first and foremost. Stayed in school. And not gotten married so early, so I could have had some me time to explore my cross dressing and not put off till my later years.

[Stephanie47]

Nikki, you cannot go through your life avoiding pitfalls and bad experiences based on the lives of others. Nobody can guarantee you a blissful life. There are many decisions I would have made differently that have nothing to do with cross dressing. But, that's life. The only suggestion I have for anyone is to keep your body healthy. Don't do anything to excess that it becomes a overbearing over consuming compulsion, and, for at least me, that includes cross dressing.

[Being Paige]

Well if I were to be 20 again and dating the same girl I was then and eventually marrying her I would be upfront with her as to the person I really am and then let the chips fall where they may. We were and still are best friends and if i could do this over I would. Maybe she would have flat out dumped me and I wouldn't be living the life I am but I still it would be better then not having her support and understanding.

[wilt575]

If you could be 20 years old again with everything you know now, what would you do? Anything different? Just wanted to ask this question so I can do stuff now without having any regrets in the future.

I'm kind of like Suzy1, especially the dressing and fem side of things. I definitely would get on hormones for better results (the younger the better build you get) in offsetting the testostrone effects. And would have had few more girly years. Fem side didn't really kick in untill mid 20's, so lost 5 good years

[Ellen James]

If I were 20 again - hmm, - hard to say, I was a rather naive and definitely more naive than I thought I was at the time. I know that one thing I would almost certainly be doing differently would be to more fully (and hopefully carefully!) explore my sexual identity and sexuality. Even with today's challenges facing the LGBT community, it was sufficiently dangerous back then that I think now I was deliberately avoiding recognition of who I really am in its fullest implications. The one thing I wouldn't change would be my preference for sexual monogamy (even if it's serial monogamy!) though today that series of relationships would today go beyond m/f -

I would probably also look for a different career or work path that was more accommodating to my explorations than my actual government career, especially in allowing me to explore the feminine world much more fully.

[Jorja]

If I were 20 again and knew what I know today and could be the same person I am today, this world wouldn't stand a chance. I would own it!

[kristinacd55]

I would've applied myself in college, and not party so much! Also, gone down that rock n roll path that I was beginning to go on and not been afraid to pursue it.

[RachelPortugal]

At 20 I was taking a year out and travelling around Europe, meeting up with and spending time travelling with new people. If I could do that year again I would have done it as a girl. I already had shoulder length hair and only had to shave once or twice a week, so I think I could have pulled it off with a slightly different wardrobe.

Risky some might say, as a young guy I was probably more at risk than any girls travelling at that time. Whenever I was hitching to save money, all too often any girls at the same junction or service area always got a lift well before me.

A lot happened in that year or so, but I eventually returned home to restart my professional studies and I don't think that would have been any different whether I had travelled as a boy or a girl. I hope not, because I would not want to change anything since then.

[Jennifer B]

If I could go back to when I was 20, I would make an awful lot of changes. There are several companies I would never have got involved in, debts that I would never have run up, career decisions that I wouldn't have taken and the two most important things. I would be much more proactive in my relationship with my ex and changed the things that led to our breakup, which with hindsight were always obvious and it would be great to know, what I now know about myself as a person. I could save years of agonising over my cross dressing and my insecurity over it. That would be a blessing and save so much stress. At that age I could have bought a some fantastic clothes and gone out en femme everyday and totally passed. I could have had an unbelievable time, but I wasted so much time thinking that what I was doing, rarely and in private, was disgusting and thinking that there was something wrong with me.

Oh and knowing what I know now, I would have bought as many Apple shares as I could afford. :P

[Leah Lynn]

Oh, yeah, baby! First I'd finish college, second, I'd save every cent I could to transition. Third, I'd get my pilot's license earlier, then start the partying!

[Angela Campbell]

Ok. As long as I don't have to live with my parents..........

[stacycoral]

I would have transitioned.

I agree with Karen, it would be great to be a girl in her twenties. wow, would it be fun, Lucky Jorja did get that in her life. hugs.

[lingerieLiz]

I don't know. Not be a CDer? Oh, can't change. I think I might work in a profession where I could dress as I chose.

[MaryAnn40c]

I would go for a complete change...male to female...no questions asked!

[Meghan]

I don't want to go down that road. Realistically, I don't know that I would have ever married my ex knowing what I know now. I am not sure I could endure that long enough to have the two children that came from that relationship.

I suppose that, translated, means that you simply don't know what events are going to be significant until after they have already happened.

If I knew the heartbreak of feeling guilty, from wanting to be a girl, could be simply be erased if I had a chance to go back and not try on that first pair of panties...I don't know that I would make a different decision. Then again I am not sure I wouldn't.

I think that type of thinking puts a priority on knowledge over experience. At what point does experience create knowledge and vice-versa?

I am not sure I would ever want to trade away what it feels like to discover the unknown.

Meghan

[Brittany CD]

Well, that was only a few months ago for me, so probably nothing

[noeleena]

Hi,

To be 20 again,

No thanks no way, Id not be who i am now though in saying that , I did not change from being who i am or was, changes took place that have allowed me to be able to express who i allways have been , just at that age i was not seen as i am now,

I have grown to become a woman in the way that would have been imposible then, .

Even being intersex it would not have worked, im happy now , i can look back just knowing that my background then was right for then . so really this is my time now or has been for over 18 years, the best part of my life .

...noeleena...

[Paula_56]

Hey MFlakey-- You just described my LIFE!!!!!!! and my regrets!

[EllenJo]

I would not have married my first wife and gone out and immediately found my second.

[Aprilrain]

I would have transitioned sooner

[ArleneRaquel]

Well at age 20 I had just met my future wife, but if I hadn't met her I would likely have started my journey then to love as a full time woman.

[sometimes_miss]

Times have changed; getting a college degree, then a doctorate, costs as much as a house.....a really, really nice house. I don't know what I'd do in today's climate; probably go to school and join the military to pay off the M.D. with the service if they still do that. My big mistake was trying to get through school without borrowing anything, I kept having to stop to earn money in between, and working while taking classes destroyed my grades, I discovered that I can't remember shit when I study when I'm exhausted. I'd also just forget about trying to get married and have a normal life...and just get on with renting women by the hour as needed, instead of spending a fortune wining and dining someone, then spending a ton on a house,etc, only to have it all fall apart. After all, if you were going skydiving and they told you there was a 58% chance the damn thing wouldn't open, would you still jump out of the plane??? Hell no. In the past few decades, I've seen lots of doctors go through many women, and even as those guys got older, the chicks they dated, didn't. The rewards of having a family seem to be way out of perspective. Not to mention, guys value keeps getting higher after he gets married, as his income and position in society keeps increasing; but she will never be more beautiful, or more sexually exciting, than the day she gets married. After that, it's all downhill.
I'd buy a motorcycle sooner; too my great surprise, it became a great device to pick up girls, practically every one at work wanted to go for a ride. My social life changed virtually overnight. Same with taking dance lessons; did wonders; women at work would spot me on the dance floor at the annual christmas party, and then I'd be getting invites to go with them places, which I could parlay into dates at other places. Stuff I learned too late.

[Frédérique]

If you could be 20 years old again with everything you know now, what would you do? Anything different? Just wanted to ask this question so I can do stuff now without having any regrets in the future.

You mean in terms of crossdressing? I would definitely dress-up more, or sooner, if I had the resources – when I was 20 I had no money for skirts, you know…:sad:

Beyond that, if I was 20 again I would sit down with my grandparents and ask them a lot questions. There’s a great deal of missing information in my family, and it’s gone. I would also “do” something (secretly) with my female cousin – this missed opportunity haunts me to this day…
:doh:

[kimdl93]

You mean in terms of crossdressing? I would definitely dress-up more, or sooner, if I had the resources – when I was 20 I had no money for skirts, you know…:sad:

Beyond that, if I was 20 again I would sit down with my grandparents and ask them a lot questions. There’s a great deal of missing information in my family, and it’s gone. I would also “do” something (secretly) with my female cousin – this missed opportunity haunts me to this day…
:doh:

Great answer, Freddy. I have been avoiding this as most "what-if" questions, since it can't happen. But I do like the idea of visiting with my grandparents...unfortunately none were living when I was 20. No female cousins, but I certainly would have gone farther in my dressing if I could have known then what I know now. I was dating my first wife at the time and I was lean and had great skin. Oh to be young again.

Might as well go out and buy a Powerball ticket, since I could possibly win and I could possible be mauled simultaneously by both a Polar bear and a Grizzly. At least in this Universe, I cannot go back in time.

[Bradlie]

For big changes, personally, I would need to go back a bit further than 20, but I don't think I would do anything different in regards to crossdressing. Generally though, be myself and stand up for myself. Not try so hard to blend in or fade out.

[kellycan27]

Nope.. I wouldn't go back to 20 and have to do this all over again. I was re-born at 20 to begin with ( when I began my RLE). Looking back there may have been a few small changes that I might have made, but nothing worth reliving those years. At 30 I am quite content, and a good many of my dreams have come to fruition. I'd rather continue to move forward rather than backwards.

[Joanne.England]

I would definately have done things differently. Although I love my 2 children, i may have tried a different parter. i missed an opportunity there (they say love is blind). If i knew then what I know now I would have persued a different path if she agreed to my dressing up!!!

[Saffron]

If you could be 20 years old again with everything you know now, what would you do? Anything different? Just wanted to ask this question so I can do stuff now without having any regrets in the future.

I would have started cross dressing right away! I don't know why I wasted so much time trying to ignore my inner self.

[Karren J]

Full transition, pay attention in school for some better opportunities

[Megan Briana]

I think i would have started CDing sooner. I would have sought out a woman who is accepting, and spent the the last 20 years trading secrets... the good, the bad, and the ugly ones.

[Rachel Morley]

There's two things I would do differently. Study harder at school and embrace my crossdressing sooner and without guilt.

[Josie M]

not pursue such a specialized college degree (aerospace).....perhaps computers instead. :)

And accept the fact that I'm TG and that's OK instead of hiding behind ROTC, fundamentalist Christian groups, etc......

[jillleanne]

If you could be 20 years old again with everything you know now, what would you do? Anything different? Just wanted to ask this question so I can do stuff now without having any regrets in the future.

I'd wonder what it would be like to not know what I know until I was say, oh, 58. If pigs could fly................

[PretzelGirl]

I would have been the woman that invented the internet and would be the CEO of Google and Marks Z's girlfriend LOL ;-)

You want to be Alice Gore? :D

I don't know. I love my family and I can't see where I would want to alter anything that would have the impact of them not being in my life. I wasn't crossdressing then, so in one way I wish it had come on sooner so I could have experienced it in my youth (and taken better care of my skin). But any change could result in one less kid which is less grandkids. Sorry for getting all SciFi. :battingeyelashes:

[coco8132]

Without hesitation, I would be true to myself and transition. But why stop at 20? Knowing then what I know now, I would have started HRT as soon as I could, preferably in my teens. To have been able to go through life as the person I was meant to be would have been amazing. To experience all the "firsts" a girl goes through, and the added benefit of starting hrt young enough to counteract any male puberty, and develop as a young woman. I recall at the age of 16 thinking if I start on hormones now, at 18 I could have my operation. However, I did not have the courage to confront these feelings, and be honest with myself.

[Erica Marie]

The long and short of it. I would do EVERYTHING different. If I knew then what I know now. The opportunities, the friends and others like myself that are out there. I would have lived my life totally different. The biggest issue and I dont think it matters what time or where is finding a s/o that is accepting. That would have been the first step. Over the last 25 years, a marriage and a serious relationship and both ended in nonacceptance. I know Im not alone so we move on and take it day by day.

[Claire Cook]

Looking back on my life, things that happened (or didn't happen) before I was 20, and what I know now about gender, I would have told my parents "I am different", and rather than try to fit into a mold society dictated for me, I would charted a path to the real me....

... but then I probably wouldn't have met the wonderful person I've been with for 45 years...

[Tina B.]

I've had a great life, lived on my own terms, loved the work I did for 30 years, married twice, and would still have done the first one, because I have a couple of great kids from it. Found a second wife that loves me, all of me, dressed or not. No I wouldn't change anything big, maybe a coupe of small tweaks. regrets, sure, when you get to be in your late 60's I see things I did wrong, I wish I had been more out, but that just isn't me. I wish I had treated people better at times, and I wish I had spoken up at times that I kept my mouth shut, around homophobias, and the like, but over all, it's been a great ride, I've abused my body, risked it all a time or two, drank to much, and smoked to much, even after giving up cigarettes, and it will most likely take a few years off my total existence, but I still have no regrets, life has been a great adventure, and a wonderful learning experience, and I want as much of it as I can get! A lot of people made a lot more money than I did, and sent a wiser than I did I'm sure, but I doubt anyone has enjoyed the ride any better than I have, some chase money, I chased happiness, and I found the gold I was looking for.
Tina B.

[wanagione]

I would have transitioned if I was 20 again.

[Sarah Doepner]

There are so few sure things in life and each decision has multiple unexpected outcomes, so it's difficult to figure out what I would do differently. A few come to mind, including one that's been mentioned before; I'd spend a bit more time and effort on my health. Getting in the habit of being fit would make it easier to stay fit, flexible and at a reasonable weight now. I would save more toward retirement and just save more for emergencies. Having a financial cushion would have made a few of my 'crises' a lot less dramatic. Without knowing what the social and political environment was around me, I'd still like to have come to accept my crossdressing as out of the mainstream, but normal, a lot sooner, and I would have shared it with those I love much earlier.

[StarrOfDelite]

Questions of this type seem seductively simple, but they really are damnably complicated. By the time I was twenty I had already, and in this order, earned high school varsity letters in baseball, basketball, and football, fathered a child with my 17 y.o. girlfriend, graduated from high school, been married, been divorced, joined the Marine Corps, gone through Parris Island, seen combat in Vietnam, and was getting ready to enroll in college. If I had suddenly been told then what I know now about my sexual and gender orientation, I probably would've gone into absolute denial. Assuming that the rough equivalent of Marley's Ghost had been able to convince me, and assuming I would have been able to handle it without a total nervous breakdown, I think I might have chosen a college in New York City instead of the school I did attend, and would've studied visual and literary arts courses instead of general liberal arts.

In that scenario I hope that I would have been smart enough to invest my money wisely so I'd now be living in a Park Avenue co-op, and also that I would've been smart enough to never have unprotected sex so I wouldn't have died in the AIDS epidemic in the late 20th.

[Krististeph]

20 years old- 20 year s old now? or back when i was 20?

back then- invest ever cent in Microsoft, Google, etc. Find cd support groups and friendly areas- transition.

now? get a masters or doctorate in economics, or perhaps fashion- make some coin- transition- start a CD staffed firm. and spend every day dressed in those wonderful young fashions....

youth is wasted on the young, but i guess it is the way things simply are.

[Lorileah]

.You wouldn't be talking to me today. i would be in my career somewhere....as a woman (which career is questionable though)