One of the things I am most thankful for is that I was able to grow up during a time when my mistakes were allowed to just be mistakes.

I think about that more as I watch the world we live in now. A world where one bad moment, one poor decision, or one embarrassing situation can leave the small circle of people who were actually there and suddenly become entertainment for millions of strangers.

I am grateful that my growth happened privately.

That does not mean people did not make mistakes before social media. We absolutely did. We said the wrong things. We made bad choices. We embarrassed ourselves. We went through phases where we were trying to figure out who we were.

The difference was the audience.

Most of those moments stayed within our actual lives. They existed among friends, family, classmates, coworkers, and people who at least had some connection to us as human beings.

Now, a person’s lowest moment can reach people who know nothing about them. People who do not know their character, their journey, or what they may become. They only see a moment. Sometimes they are not even interested in understanding the person behind it. They are just consuming the chaos.

That has to change how it feels to grow up.

Growing and maturing requires room. It requires the ability to fail, learn, reflect, and become better. Most of us are thankful we are not judged forever by the worst version of ourselves.

I am not against technology, and I am not saying the past was perfect. The internet has connected people and created opportunities that previous generations never had.

But I am thankful I got the chance to become myself without feeling like there was a hidden audience waiting to judge every mistake along the way.

There was value in having moments that belonged only to the people who were actually part of your life.

There was freedom in being able to grow without the whole world watching.