Is Protective Styles Absolutely Necessary to Maintain Length??

Before starting this journey I used to wear my hair flat ironed and straight down my back and I loved this style....Since being on this journey I don't wear my hair out often, have stopped flat ironing my hair (except on very special occasions) and I don't blow dry either. So now I mainly wear my hair in bun or pony or I have it tied down in a satin scarf. If I'm going out, I'll do a wet n curly look and call it a day. Gone are the days when my hair felt the breeze blowing through it and lifted itself from my shoulders as if to say "hello world, look how pretty I look". I miss those days!! LOL I would have never thought just the simple act of wearing my hair down would make much a difference to me but it does..Why do we as black women have to constantly worry about wearing our hair in protective styles if we want to maintain our length? Before this journey my hair was APL and I almost never had it in a protective style...It grew just the same. The reason it wasn't healthy is because I didn't know how to take good care of it and I used too much direct heat...Not because I wore it down all the time. I don't think wearing your hair in a protective style 90% of the time is the only way to go if you want to maintain length...I know many people will not agree with me and that's ok...but I'll share this with you..I have a close friend who has hair past her waist (100% black) and her hair texture is 4a. She NEVER wears protective styles. Her hair is always flowing down her back and she relaxes it every 8 weeks... She never had a problem maintaining her length (she went from SL to past her waist in about 5.5 years). So I look at her and say to myself, if she can do it why can't I? I know a lot goes into growing your hair individually and that everyone's hormones are different...I realize that. I'm just saying If you take care of your hair and treat it the way you are suppose to, it should be healthy enough to wear out at least 50% of the time without any harmful side effects. Idk, but I'm tired of wearing protective styles and I would love to go back to the days when my hair was straight and flowing down my back...I just miss that lol. I'm just saying...