Age merely shows what children we remain.

Growing older does not replace the person you were at seven. The same wanting, the same flinch at being left out, the same need to be told you did well, all still in there, just wearing better clothes. Years add skill at hiding it, not immunity. Watch anyone at any age get tired or frightened and the child shows through.

Rather than being embarrassed by that, use it. When a reaction feels too big for the situation, ask how old you feel in that moment, and what the younger version of you was hoping someone would say. Then be gentler with other people, who are carrying the same thing.