You’re rereading old messages and cringing. That’s what growth looks like from the outside.

That wince is the distance between whoever sent those and whoever is reading them, and the distance only exists because you moved. Growth is almost never visible from inside. It shows up like this, backwards, as mild horror at a person you are no longer. As evidence goes, it is about the most reliable you will get.

Rather than deleting the whole thread, pick one specific thing you would do differently now. Put it in a sentence, which is what turns an embarrassing hour into something usable.