Jeannie always speaks wise words, and yes, I know it’s easy to give other people advice and I usually steer away from it, but I think one of the most important things in anyone’s life is to take charge of your life yourself, and live life on your terms, and only you can take charge, nobody can do it for you. This also means being with people, and finding friends who fit within the boundaries of your terms. This doesn’t just apply to people of our own ilk, it applies to everyone, whatever their place in the community.
Taking charge of our life doesn’t mean anyone should treat others with blatant disregard, but I am a firm believer that, to a degree, we all hold the responsibility of the quality of our life in our own hands. The world is full of people who would tell us what is right and what is wrong as far as how we live our life, but everyone is an individual, and as long as we live within the laws of the land, retain our dignity and treat others as we’d like to be treated ourselves, then we are free to live life on our own terms, but, to do this, everyone has to take charge of their life, because it slips away before you realize. Yes it can take extra courage, persistence and a strong will to succeed, it all depends on how determined a person is to make the changes in their life which they deem necessary. No amount of outside advice can do it for us, we have to take the step ourselves and just be determined not to allow anyone to get in the way of succeeding.
Believe me, it can be done, but sometimes it takes raw courage, which can be born out of fear, which includes fear of loss, and we have to keep bouncing back every time we get knocked down. If someone had told me 10/15 years ago that today I’d be living as a female, yet able keep my family and most of my friends, I would have scoffed at the suggestion. Yes I had to make some compromises, but they were within the terms which I needed, so as to be able to live a happy successful life, but that’s part of taking charge of your life so you can live it on your own terms, and not the terms others may set.
Some of what I say may seem a little harsh, it's not intended to be, it's just that you appear to know what you want to do, but can't take the step to achieve it, and in the end, only you can take that step which will improve your life, nobody can take it for us.
I wish you well.
Sally.