Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement.
I remember a time when family members and an old friend commented on how long and nice my hair looks. Now it's extra short and I can't wait to grow it back to that same length.
With all the advice about hair products (i.e. WGO, VO5 S&C, Surge 14) and using no heat my new growth is a lot more manageable, softer and grows faster. As a result, when I usually do twistouts cornrow style my new growth actually follows the pattern of the twistout instead of being extra kinky. The only way I knew my hair was growing (a lot!
) was when I let it air dry in a wrap and could differentiate between the relaxed and softer new growth. So now when I wear a twistout and am unable to tell the difference between the two different textures I'm less concerned about how much my hair is growing and spend less time in the mirror.
So my point is thanks again for the advice and I found a way to prevent myself from stressing over hair growth b/c I know it's growing.