Every transformation disappoints someone invested in your previous form.

Anyone who built their sense of you around an earlier version has an investment in that version staying put. When you change, their picture stops matching, and the discomfort they feel often arrives as criticism or a joke about how you have gotten strange. Their reaction is usually about their own adjustment, not about whether your growth is legitimate.

Expect this rather than being blindsided by it. When someone reacts poorly, give them a little time before deciding what it means, since some people come around once the surprise wears off. And check that you are not shrinking back to keep an old picture intact for someone else’s comfort.