Happens all the time and still happens, eff em...
My dad recently said "I always try to be supportive but I know one day you'll regret doing that to your hair" and it made me laugh. First, my dad is the least supportive of me, because I don't need his support. He hates everything about my choices for appearance, domestic partner and religion, but in my parent's divorce I was the only daughter of his that didn't stop talking to him, and the only one who can get the others to talk to him. I have ALWAYS been there for him, and my mother, without sacrificing either. Parents are so immature.
Anyway all while he was saying this it was while he was going on a LONNNGGG rant about having regret and hating his life and how it didn't turn out the way he wanted it to. I was there to be a shoulder to cry on and to encourage him to not think it's too late to do everything he wanted still, it was really his mid life crisis breakdown I think. I just thought it was funny because firstly it's just hair, and believe it or not I can cut it off tomorrow and do something else if I want. That's the magic of hair. The next thing was that appearance is nothing, who cares. Fitting in didn't work, so I gave up on that when I was young, and I've always been the "weird" one... though I'm the most balanced of my family to say the least. The third thing that was so funny but absurd about it is that I've never been supported in my decisions. I don't give a shit about that, everyone thinks they know what's best for you but nobody does. Most people are going to tell you what they want without caring what you want, and most people will be against any change, especially if it's not a social norm. Older people are worse at it (I have friends almost my dad's age who bought me LOADS of conditioner, ya know, to help with my tangling problem) yet once it's said and done, they'll all admit that they might not have been right to begin with.
People always care a lot about appearance because that's all they have. I have young friends, my generation and some just slightly younger by a year or two, who always say (when they see an old picture or me incognito) "you look so pretty without your piercings/dreads". My partner always says, "and she looks even better with them!" and jokes he'd leave me if I took them out, and I always say "I'm more than just pretty". That's the problem though, most people aren't. Big tits, perfect nose, great hip to weight ratio, perfect straight pearly white teeth, supple lips, perfectly arched eyebrows, whatever: People always are so focused on looks because that's what matters to them, and the people who say I look better without are also the ones who know me the least, and are also people I am really not fond of due to their lack of personality or shallow attitudes. What bothers them most is that it doesn't bother me, so it's even more funny to watch when people realize that you don't give a shit about looks and you actually have substance: They melt like the wicked witch in the wizard of oz at the end.
maybe that'll be enough to get miss discouraged encouraged 
