Staying young

[Charlize]

I was recently listening to a radio interview on NPR about change and how it affects the brain as we age.

I got me thinking and that can cause problems.

I am so happy when someone hears my age and says with seeming honest surprise "no way!". I almost kissed him when a new doctor came into the room and turned to go saying he was there to see a 67 year old woman. It is so pleasing that a bit of makeup and a good wig can take years away.

The question i'm asking myself is whether since change seems to keep our brains functioning longer i have also been doing that through transition. I can't think of a bigger change. Many days have been puzzles as i find my place in the world. Is it making my mind younger as well as the perception others have of my body?

I've faced fear, shame, and ridicule and found peace, acceptance and love. Maybe this transition thing is a fountain of youth. If so hope it keeps working because i'm not going back just for a double dip.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Cyndee]

Good for you Charlize

Change keeps perspectives fresh, wiliness to learn and grow, even at a latter stage. I can't imagine what I'd be doing if I did not change, 6 years ago I felt I was dying, my soul was dying inside, my body was following. Transition for me gave me a fresh start and liberated me, a chance to grow in new roles, those roles gave me new applied knowledge, a place to express myself in new ways, ways that were long suppressed. This is life long learning, this was not the easy way, but in those struggles, I reached higher. Exercise and HRT combined with regular Dr visits, have given my body and mind a fresh start. I feel young, I am young at heart, and have more energy and zest for life than I ever had. My peers have told me I look younger to them, maybe hormones do help, maybe it's that glow your skin takes on, dunno.

Be well, be free

Cyndi -

[JJ]

I so agree Caharlize. Five years ago I was old. And I didn't like it. I see friends locked in to ways of thinking because it is hoow they thought before and they are in ruts. So many people my age talk about how much better things used to be.

In fact a man I was working with as a volunteer setting up for a bicycle race was talking about how much better it used to be for everything. I grinned and just said not for me. I love information -now when I need an answer I don't have to comb through 5 sets of encyclopedias and hope I can find it at the library if I don't find it there. The world is at my fingertips.

And I like that now it is so much harder to hide the truth from people because there are so many sources that the history we are taught no longer reflects just the way wee like to pretend it was.

Five years ago I didn't feel like it was my world anymore. Now I do. Now I know age is irrelevant except for collecting social security - I am invested in the world now. In today. Not yesterday. And I plan to keep it that way till the day I die. Transitioning gave me a life I never really had in a sense. And that makes it all fresh and new And I think that makes me young. Involvement and enthusiasm. With the experience to appreciate just how lucky I really am.

Johnny

[Charlize]

Thank you Cyndi and JJ for sharing the enthusiasm and joy you have found in your lives. Perhaps that is one of the main reasons i feel younger. I'm like a kid in a candy shop....so much to do and so many sweet choices i can make just because i'm finally free to be myself without the fear and shame i always lived with.

Hugs,

Charlize

[Timber Wolf]

I think a lot of it is outlook. A year ago, before I was ready to accept who and what I am, I was getting old. I felt old, and was resigned to it. Now that I'm coming to grips with myself as female inside, I'm finding a happiness deep down that I've never felt before. I'm not hiding from myself, I'm slowly becoming me more and more. I've noticed I'm no longer thinking how "old" I am. I feel younger again. And when a co-worker asked how old I was and I told him, his eyes popped open and his jaw dropped. He said he would have never guessed I was that old. Made me feel really good, so I can imagine how that doctor must have made you feel. It's nice to be young!?

Timber Wolf?

[tracy_j]

Change?

I tend to re-invent every few years so it is one of my concerns that my transition (as far as it may go) may only be part of this (seriously).

I don't think so!

My attitude to life is to be versatile and prepared to think as anyone. I do approach things as a child, teenager, adult or even elderly person if it helps me to a solution. My aim in life is to get answers and solutions to problems and am not afraid to be me and totally think outside the box to get there. My idol in this is Joe 90 (see old TV).

It may sound strange or silly but it has helped - I get answers and am not vegitating! (maybe just does not help with my street cred )

As such old? your choice!

Tracy

[Guest]

I also noticed a change in the vein of feeling younger. Transition is in many ways a re-birth and things in my life were just there and it felt like one day was like all the rest. I was going through the motions but not feeling ALIVE.

Now that I am "alive" i always look forward to the next day and enjoy memories of the days that past.

[gennee]

I sometimes have quite a time convincing some that I'm 67 years old.