Cringing at your old posts is proof you’ve grown. Worry more if you don’t.

Embarrassment at an earlier version of yourself is a measurement, and what it measures is distance. You can only wince at something you have outgrown, which makes the discomfort evidence rather than a verdict. Someone who looks back and finds nothing to wince at has either forgotten or has not moved.

When the memory of something you said makes you flinch, try finishing the thought with what you know now that you did not know then. Leave the old version alone, since deleting it does not undo it and you were working with less. Expect to cringe at this year too, eventually.