Bald or shaved NEEDS some facial hair in most cases to avoid looking like a cue ball...even a circle beard or stache-less goatee is a big help.

It seems to me like you are getting doubts once it gets a certain length. So why not just trim it shorter? Shaving it seems a little extreme... Or try to persevere and maybe you'll grow to like the longer beard if you can get yourself past the awkward phase.

Patience shall be rewarded!

New beard growers: Check out the Rules of Beard Acquisition.
To upload and post pictures, here is a tutorial.
Do you believe in these Common Beard Myths?