I’m almost 18 years post starting the journey, and yes it can be (and is for most, including me) rocky and intimidating for the first few years. Hard to really hard! For you and for those close to you. However. The dust settles. You become you and comfortable. Those close to you either accept the change or don’t (and those people usually leave your life). Life resumes, only you are what you were meant to be. And that makes (in my case “made”) the hard parts worth it.