Running out of time

[MJ]

hi kim
i've got news for you.. non of us are getting out of here alive... so enjoy everyday think of the good things in life and don't dwell in the past or what if .. you are a wonderful person kim and a good friend ...

[Noel Chimes]

Dear Kim:
It takes age to perfect a diamond and the perfect wine. Don't let a number get in the way of enjoying life to the fullest. Before I moved I had to keep my lifestyle in the closet. But now at age 50 (that's right the BIG50) I am having the time of my life. I don't hae to worry about who will see me since they don't know me anyway, so when they see me en femme, that's how they remember me and I can hide when I'm in DRAB. So let go of the stress and have fun being just who you are.
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You don't what's there unless you open the box." Ok so I misquoted Forest Gump. Sue me.

[Charleen]

Ain't anybody gettin' outta here alive! I've lost everyone but my son and 1 aunt and some cousins. My wife died when she was 53. Live for today as tommorrow might not come. I look in the mirror and see a chicken wattle under my chin, and I could pack enough in the bags under mt eyes for a week long trip! Do I like it? Hell no! I accept it, and accepting things doesn't mean I have to like it. When I look in the mirror I do not see the person I think I am. I expect to see the 20 something I was, not the 56 I am. Yes, it's a shock sometime! I hold on to who I am inside and for the most part don't let the outer shell bother me 'cause after all, I don't don't have to see it unless I look in a mirror, others do and that's their problem!
Today I do what I like and try to enjoy every day.
Love and xxxx, Lily

[Di]

Kim

Doesn't (most) every woman think the same thing. :

:D

Yes they sure do.....

Hon everyone goes through this.....thinking what if and what was.....but just want to say...you no matter at what age.... will have a young fun adventurous outlook and trust me that will always shine through and that my dear keeps you forever young

[TxKimberly]

Thanks to all,

Many of your posts brought a laugh - exactly what I suppose I needed to hear. Y'all are great and it's an honor to know you!
By the way, I have clearly managed to give the impression that I am in a deep state of dispair - thiw would be over stating it. I am not sitting here sobbing, I'm just not thrilled with the situation! lol

By the way, don't any of you SLEEP for goodness sake?

Kim

[Annesah]

Kim! I was at an outdoor party this weekend and two GGs asked me to go for a walk with them. We are in our late 50's early 60's and somehow the conversation got around to this very topic. All three of us were hoties in our youth, now bitching and moaning over what nature had slowly stolen from us. What we had then was so much more than most. How blessed we had been and we took it for granted. We then considered that what nature had given us was a gift that had to be returned, that we were lucky to have had it at all, and that we were being very small for complaining. I was so glad to have this talk. We are ALL in this boat together. Life is so full of fine print.

[EricaCD]

There's plenty of room for some perspective here. It's a good thing I did not present fully en femme when I was 20. Rail-thin (155 lbs at 6'3"), with super-fem arms, a head full of long, rich, curly hair and not a wrinkle to be seen, I have no doubt that I would have been horrified at the thought of being seen en femme at the fossil-like age of (gasp) 37...

Nowadays I do wonder if the day will come where I simply cannot enjoy the sight of myself en femme. If that happens, I will probably stop dressing. At the same time, however, I benefit from the wonderful example of a bunch of beautiful older cds here. Right now I hope to get a nice "elegant middle age" look together for my mid-40s. And by 55 I plan to shoot for the "my, she's aging gracefully" look. From there on, we will play it as it lies.

Erica

[Andi]

By the way, don't any of you SLEEP for goodness sake?

Kim

Nope, I don't sleep until 3AM EDT because that's the only time I get to be me and talk to the wonderful girls in this forum. I'm guessing by looking at the time posts that someone's always awake somewhere 24/7 thinking about and looking after the other girls here. A really neat family!!!

[Kate Simmons]

Since I'm retired and by myself, I can pretty much do what I wanna do, no one to answer to but myself. Some days I'll take a long nap and wake up early in the AM and check the Forum. I'm usually at my sharpest then anyway. If too much is going on, I get befuddled in my little blonde noggin anyway.:p

[LindaMarie]

Kim,

Thanks so much for your post. You've really hit on something that's important for so many of us.

I, too, feel so often that I'm running out of time. There are so many things I wish I had done when I was younger and times I wish I had been braver. I laugh when I read about people who when asked if they would have lived their lives differently say they wouldn't have changed a thing. There may be a small percentage for whom that's true but that's always struck me as incredibly arrogant or foolish and probably both. You'd like to think you've learned something along the way.

I know (and I think you know, too) the people who have replied to your post are providing great advice. We need to make the most of each day. We're going to age, we're not going to be as conventionally attractive or passable as we were in our 20s and that's ok. I occasionally take time to mourn what might have been, but, in my more mature moments (and they're still only moments at this point, but I'm working on that), I appreciate the experiences I've had and know that all the cliches about living my life the best that I can is more important than thinking about what I should have done differently in the past.

Of course, sometimes all that mature, life-affirming stuff doesn't help when I'm feeling old and unattractive and unlikely to achieve much or have adventures. So, I'm inconsistent. But, knowing that these feelings pass helps.

I think I could have written your post, Kim (though not as well). One of the great things about this board is it gives us a chance to just throw our emotions and thoughts out there and get support and warm wishes from the people here.

By the way, just to echo what many others here have said: having read some of your other posts and knowing just a little bit of what you've gone through, I want you to know that I admire you very much. You've made choices and taken risks and they seem to have been very fulfilling for you. You should celebrate that about yourself (sorry if that sounds like a greeting card but I'm in the wacky land of emotions here so bear with me....) and I suspect that you do. Keep doing that.

By the way, I'd feel the same way about you even if you didn't just have the cutest makeover ever.

All the best.

Linda

[SherriePall]

Kim -- You wrote that you look in the mirror and see your father. Ha! I look in the mirror and see my grandfather! He was a great man, but that is so depressing.
Throw on something comfortable and my wig and I feel much younger. I may not look it, but I feel it and that is all that matters to me.
I haven't heard of any of us growing younger, so growing older is much better than the alternative. No matter what age we are, there is still so much we can do (both within the CD community and outside of it). Remember, Colonel Sanders started his empire with his first Social Security check.
Kim, keep you chin up, your lipstick bright, and your dresses and skirts appropriately short and forget about the years you have already lived and tackle your future days with fervor and enthusiasm.

[Rachel Morley]

No hair on the top of my head, wrinkles every where, hair growing on my ears and out of my nose (YUCK!!) and I think "OMG, soon I will be far to ugly to cross dress!"

This made me smile, because whilst I don't beat myself up too much about it, I too have noticed the wrinkles etc and the fact that I feel so much more younger than I look, especially when I'm en femme. I try to console myself by saying as long as I'm happy and healthy that's all that matters. Te image in the mirror is just an outer shell, it's what's inside that counts.

[Dixie]

[SIZE="4"]Age is just a number, so dress as young as you can get away with!!:drink:[/SIZE]

[Kelsy]

[SIZE="3"] Kim sweety,

Please take a moment and breathe Life is a freight train and there are so many things I want to do and things I want but I realize I can not possibly posess them all. But I do feel blessed that I have had the opportunity to live my life with a view from both , let's say , both sides of the tracks I love how dressing as a woman shaves 10 to 15 years of of my male age of 52:D


Take it slow Jennifer[/SIZE]

[Kelsy]

[QUOTE=SherriePall;881188]Kim -- You wrote that you look in the mirror and see your father. Ha! [QUOTE]



[SIZE="3"]
Here - here Your father was beautiful eh!!

Jennifer[/SIZE]

[Jammie Lyann]

I've always told myself that Im going to live well past 100
at age 40 I have a long time to enjoy my look even if they do get older.
I to am going bald, when I look in the mirror , its not my father I see, but my grandfather, I have a picture of him when he was about 40 himself,
but when I look an my hands I see my grandmothers hands although my hands are bigger , the skin on the back of my hands is sunken in an you can see the veins an that is part of what I remember about my GM,

Ok a little age defieing here, mosturize mosturize mostuize, inside body an out.
Make sure you drink plenty of non caffanated liquid, water, jucies, about 64oz. a day more during the summer, Caffine will dehydate the body so big no no.
Ok for the outside of the body lotion as much as possibal, but here the catch us only none Alcohol Lotion, Alcohol drys out the skin an force the skin to absorb the lotion, most lotions have 2 to 3 types of Alcohol in them, I use Dove Pro age about 8$ for 14oz but well worth it it does have 1 type of alcohol in it.
I'm not sure if some of you already knew this but the further down on the list of ingredients an ingredient is the less there is of that ingredient,
the top five ingredients in any product, is the total of about 90% of that product. so if your lotion has Ahcohol in it make sure its way down on the list

[MsEva]

I know a bit about the aging thing...not bald, but have been gray since my early thirties! EEK. So when I put on my wig and get pretty, at least I feel pretty, I can overlook the hundreds of AARP notices that are coming to our door these days! Hey they say that fifty is the new thirty..yeah right. Look you are as old as you feel. Stay active! Have fun....and by the way you are one of the prettiest girls posting here...would kill to look as good as you!

[TxKimberly]

....and by the way you are one of the prettiest girls posting here...would kill to look as good as you!

Thank you for the compliment but I can see your avatar and you are lovely. You have no need to envy anyone their looks!

Hugs to everyone!
Kim

[Karren H]

Years are screaming by but that in no way means I'm going to have to give up crossdressing because of age... Given enough makeup and maybe some body filler.. Lol. I can still look way better enfemme than I do in drab..

But that's not my big concern in life its........... That I might have to give up ....... HOCKEY!!! Sign sigh sigh... I am slowing down some and the kids coming in are way better... So maybe I can play till I'm 60.. Hopefully longer.. But keeping up with some 35 years younger is a chore!!

At least with crossdressing I don't have to get physical.. Hehe. Or check..... As hard!!

So Kim, I wouldn't worry about age... Your getting cutier every year!!

Love Karren

[MsJanessa]

on the makeup emphasizing the wrinkles---go with a slightly darker shade---it tends to emphasize them less

[Annesah]

[SIZE="4"]Age is just a number, so dress as young as you can get away with!!:drink:[/SIZE]

Dixie! Once again you are so right. Thank you.

[RobertaFermina]

Well Kimberley,

Elders have always let go of youthful beauty and glamor in favor of the gifts of experience, and wisdom, and compassionate knowing.

The youth come to us for our inner beauty, and ability to redirect their attention from their fears to their magnificence.

The beauty of wisdom and experience will rise and rival, and, eventually, surpass all your physical charm and radiance. You will radiate beauty from within.

It may not "just happen" though. The soul, like any garden requires cultivation. Gardener! Heal thyself!



Winsome Crone

[Country girl]

[SIZE=3]Hey Kim,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Seriously??? From one Texas Girl to another, Have you looked at your picture lately??? You got it going on girlfriend!!! You know, what Holly and a lot of the other gurls have had to say is so true. It's what's on the inside that counts and you have a beautiful inside. At 48 I feel for you cos when I look in the mirror I have a lot of days when I think "hey Y'all I need some serious backup!" LOL . Kim, you look great so don't sweat it. Have a beautiful day! CG GG[/SIZE]

[Sally24]

As one "old girl" to another, we all go there sometimes. I only dressed maybe 15 times before I turned 50! There is always going to be a little wistfull thought of what you could have done and how good you would have looked. Seeing you in person I can tell you that you're doing well. You've escaped most of the sun damage that is common in girls over 40. And don't forget all the skin treatments and services that are available. I've had some spider veins zapped with a laser and it was amazing how fast they went away! I haven't tried any of the skin resurfacing treatments but some of them can really do a nice job. With our skill and the technology available, I don't think we have to worry about not being pretty enough to dress. We just have to worry is the money for dresses going to run out before we do!

[Kenix]

Hi Kim,

You pass quite well so you shouldn't worry about it too much. I do understand time maybe running out if you want to look a certain age. If that is the case then have as much fun as you can.