'how long is a piece of string'

Intrinsically a piece of string has length but that length is unknown hence the phrase 'how long is a piece of string' means that the quantitative answer is not known and there is an implicate understanding that the answer will be difficult to find given the information available.

OK now I have the definition out of the way, of the well know saying...

Someone at work asked me how long will it be till I'm done transitioning?

My first thought was in about two years time and after lower surgery... then I thought about the answer and realised as a woman I will always be changing and adapting to life, just as a male has to, you never really finish finding out who you are and what you're about until your at the end of the journey we call life.

Hence my title "how long is a piece of string. From seeking help from the doctors well over a year ago up until now, I have taken on and adapted more than any time in my life up until that point. So my own transgender journey of being trapped in the wrong body is not over and will perhaps it will never be over, as a person changes they can never erase the past, they have to carry that past life with them through their life it makes us who we are.

I have always known deep inside who I am, even though I was not in a position to express it, or in position from which I was able to transition from male to female until recently that is. I also knew my time would come and not to break what is around me, perhaps swapping happiness for sadness in the process.

My father would tell me on many occasions "not to jump out of a frying pan and into the fire", about many situations I found myself in growing up. To consider what the pay off would be, if you make a choice/change which was and is still sound advice for sure. So I have waited and waited until I felt I could no longer cope, until jumping from the proverbial frying pan. As I had waited so long the proverbial fire had died down, and I wasn't burned by the experience, in fact I was liberated and rewarded for my patience.

My transitioning to date has been positive and fantastic, my family are on board and at work the changes are accepted and covered by acts in law, I find people are generally more informed about transgender than they were 40 years ago thank goodness, the ignorance has mostly gone from being transgender in the UK, the UK news papers cover the topic in a better way than they did years ago. Children who are seen to be transgender are accepted in society by most people and there are TV documentaries and reality TV shows about transgender people. I do say mostly as there is still a long way to go to be seen equal to others in the LGBT arena. But a increase in public understanding has happened, and perhaps 2015 will be seen as the turning point we had a couple of celebrities transitioning to the opposite sex (than they were born) which raised awareness and information about them published in the tabloid papers, all helps people to read and understand more about being transgender.
I find ladies accept the news far better than males around me, who tend to shuffle about a lot and not know how to greet me or how they should refer to me, or even what to say. Which is strange to say the least, as my sexual orientation has not changed and my interests are the same as before, I just have better hair and make up and pretty clothes compared to before.

So when will I be finished transitioning the answer is as long as a piece of string I'm afraid.