Staying Healthy and Happy

[Lovely Rita]

Life is a challenge anyway, ours is compounded by the fact that ours can be somewhat of a dichotomy.

Many of us have the challange of living in a world that is not accepting of us. The views and prejudices can affect us deeply. They can even cause us to have an unhealthy view of ourselves. This is one of the most debilitating challenges we face and how we deal with it is very important with regard to our well being.

I don't write this to convince anyone that what we do is right or wrong. I write this for all of us who are working in a positive way to accept and reach a level of peace with who we are.

This has been in large measure one of my biggest undertakings and continues to be so. To fully accept, love and reconcile who I am in this world. For many of you it may not have been the challenge it has been throughout my life and I salute you, but for me it is a constant panning for gold. Removing all the dirt inorder to get to the Precious stuff of me and my soul.

I hope I am not being misunderstood as narcissistic, but I am sure I have some of that junk too. I am talking about staying healthy and happy and not at the expense of anyone else and that includes me.

Life can be a nightmare or a dream come true, I have chosen to receive it as the latter. I have learned that my choices have a lot to do with how I feel and how I see myself and who I am.

I have chosen to fully embrace, accept and fully respect who I am, at leaste who I know myself to be at this moment. I am a mystery even to myself at times but I am thrilled that I can continue forward into the mystery of me. Not held back by the negative attitudes of others and myself that were so a part of my life in the past. Their voices are quieter for now and so I continue forward on this amazing journey of life.

Our life style can be very unhealthy with all the hiding, and the underground aspect, so we have to be extra careful to care for one another and nurture each other as we make our way together.

We come across many masks. Masks on others and on ourselves. Which can be very unhealthy. Let's always remember to be kind to one another as we navigate this journey together:love:

[trannie T]

Rita makes some valuable points. I believe that to have any hope of leading a decent life one must maintain a positive attitude. If we wallow in self pity and other negative attitudes our lives will be miserable. In the course of a lifetime we all will experience adversity, how we react to adversity will determine how we live the rest of our lives. Remember, if life gives you lemons, go get some sushi.

[edina1]

I couldn't agree more - a good extension to accepting and liking the splendid, curious and interesting person that's there... and looking at oneself when dressed, smiling and saying how much fun it is....

[susie evans]

thank's for the comments we have to learn to accept our selfs before we can accept others

:love: susie

[O2B Barbara]

I have to add that this forums acceptance of all has been a big help in opening the door a bit. Someday we may not need that closet any more.

[Chantelle CD]

Very nice post Rita!! And very true indeed, i am just now, after 43 years of life, starting to come to terms with who and what i am, i have always known the person i am, and respect it, i was just not at ease with myself because of the X-dressing, and having to hide it, i still hide it LoL, but am learning to accept it. With many thanks to these forums!! and people in it!! Its so true that how we are centered in our emotions, brings to us the same energy to us, being happy and content, will bring a lot more smiles your way.

[Lovely Rita]

Hey Trannie T, right on. Staying positive in a very negative world. We can be like Salmon constantly swimming up stream. Our focus has to be staying very postive which is so healthy for us.
We can even run into negative attitudes and responses on this site but we must not allow them to hinder us in anyway.

Edina1, you hit on something wonderful in smiling at ourselves. For many people their own smile may be the only one that they encounter as a crossdresser and it is very important for our well being to have the most positive attitude towards ourselves. It is what champs are made of.

Susie, that is one of the many mountains. Self acceptance. We may be the only ones that accept ourselves but acceptance of ourselves is far more important than the acceptance from others.

Barbara, thanks and I agree. I just want closets full of lovely lovely clothing not somewhere that I have to reside in.

Chantelle, truer words have never been spoken. Society does not mess with the strong and healthy ones. We need to shine in this very judgemental and insecure world. I am smiling right now and you brought that on.

Thanks Ladies we have a lot of work to do.:love:

We cannot control how anyone else looks at us but we sure can control how we see ourselves.:thumbsup:

[Jacqui]

I have chosen to fully embrace, accept and fully respect who I am, at leaste who I know myself to be at this moment. I am a mystery even to myself at times but I am thrilled that I can continue forward into the mystery of me. Not held back by the negative attitudes of others and myself that were so a part of my life in the past. Their voices are quieter for now and so I continue forward on this amazing journey of life.

Lovely, Rita! Sounds like a good idea for a book, "Zen and the Art of Crossdressing" !

Jacqui

[kerrianna]

You said so well, Rita, what I think these days.

I used to be one of those who said "Bah! Pollyanna!" type negative Nellies.

Now I am the Pollyanna type :p and I don't care what others think.

Why?

Because, silly ol' me....I'm actually discovering happiness. Gee, what a terrible trade-off. Happiness instead of cool cynicism. After 40+ years I finally GET what The Beatles were singing about in 'All You Need is Love"

Even Blue Meanies can be reached by sugar so sweet. :D

[Lovely Rita]

Lovely, Rita! Sounds like a good idea for a book, "Zen and the Art of Crossdressing" !

Jacqui


You said so well, Rita, what I think these days.

I used to be one of those who said "Bah! Pollyanna!" type negative Nellies.

Now I am the Pollyanna type :p and I don't care what others think.

Why?

Because, silly ol' me....I'm actually discovering happiness. Gee, what a terrible trade-off. Happiness instead of cool cynicism. After 40+ years I finally GET what The Beatles were singing about in 'All You Need is Love"

Even Blue Meanies can be reached by sugar so sweet. :D

Hey Jacqui lets do the book and then we can do book signings and tour en femme as we receive all this notoriety:thumbsup:

Kerrianna your positiveness is down right contagious and addictive. I want more:love:
Have a lovely day

[JennMW]

I started reading a book called "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert
recently that fits in nicely with your post Rita.

The book has NOTHING to do with being transgendered and everything to do with happiness.

I'm about half way through. It really is helping me put my thoughts, feelings and emotions into perspective.

You can check out the authors blog at http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/blog/

A Happier and Healthier me,
Jennifer

[Kate Simmons]

I can still be somewhat cynical at times, old habits are hard to break. I'm not going to pretend something exists if it doesn't. The point is we keep working on it and one thing I have learned is that positive thinking and energy go a long way indeed.:happy: