socialized as a girl, adopted by a white family.

That must have been extremely confusing for you.

KINGSTON FARADY: It was really, really hard.

And there was a lot of questioning

around how did I get here, and who am I, and how do I do this.

I always felt-- or not even felt,

I knew that I was different.

It made me very quiet and introverted and sad.

I remember in my childhood just always thinking

this isn't going to be my life.

LAURA LING: When you finally come to the decision

to transition?

KINGSTON FARADY: I started thinking about transitioning

around 17, 18 years old.

So it was around that time that I

started to ask myself questions around could this be me.

Am I really a man that had been assigned

at birth the wrong gender.

I finally made the decision when I was about 25.

I still remember receiving my first testosterone shot,

and how happy I was.

I knew I made the right decision.

LAURA LING: What was it like the first few years

after you transitioned?

KINGSTON FARADY: They were tough.

They were very hard.

So much shifted quickly.

You're learning new emotions.

You're learning how to deal with new thoughts.

You're learning how to deal with a changing body.

And then on top of that, you're engaging with the world

in a brand-new way.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

LAURA LING: Tell me about the ritual

that you have adopted to help you in this life's journey.

KINGSTON FARADY: There are so many different aspects

of a human being.

Mind, body, spirit, will.

And for me, transitioning, I had to figure out

who am I now in terms of these different aspects of my being.

And so I created Love Your Vehicle, your vehicle

being your body, your temple.

I created that physical routine that I

needed to build my body into what I wanted it to look like.

And I love trail run, I love the obstacle

of having to leap over roots of trees

and run up hills and feel dirt and breathe the air.

The mind component is about learning.

It's critical that every single day I spend time

really enriching my understanding of what's

happening around me.

And the spiritual component is about meditation.

When I meditate, I will really focus

on just keeping my mind calm.

And I get to experience that peace

and realize that there is a peace that is a part of life

that we can have.

LAURA LING: How has this ritual of yours

of loving your vehicle changed you as a person?

KINGSTON FARADY: It has made me a lot stronger.

And it's also allowed me to be OK with myself

as a transgender person.

It's allowed me-- it's helped me to walk

in the world with strength and pride and confidence.

And it's allowed me to believe that not only are transgender

people real, but we are important,

and we are a part of the fabric of life,

despite anything else that I might hear during the day.

LAURA LING: Be sure to watch this next episode.

When you look in the mirror now, who's the person that you see?

SPEAKER 3: So I see a lot more confident person.

I see someone who's made a lot of progress.

And most of all, I see someone who's on a journey.