A Gentle Shift That Changes Everything

To be or not to be, that is (not) the question! ~ William Shakespeare (edited)

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Just let it go.”
Maybe someone said it to you when you were upset. Or maybe you’ve said it to yourself, hoping to shake off a storm of thought or an uncomfortable feeling.

For a long time, I thought “letting go” was the goal.
But honestly? It often felt like a battle. Like I had to do something—dig deep, muster willpower, find a way to push the thought or feeling away.

And that’s when I saw something quietly life-changing…

There’s a big difference between letting it go and letting it be.

Letting It Go — The Inner Tug-of-War

Letting go sounds lovely in theory, but in practice, it often involves a subtle form of resistance.
It says: “This thought or feeling shouldn’t be here.”
It suggests we need to wrestle with it, remove it, or at the very least, get it to move on faster.

And ironically, the more we try to “let it go,” the more it sticks around.
Why? Because we’re giving it energy. Attention. Meaning.

Letting It Be — The Quiet Power of Allowing

Letting it be, on the other hand, asks nothing of us.

No fixing. No effort. No timeline.

Just noticing the feeling or thought… and letting it pass through like a cloud in the sky.
Not because we’re trying to get rid of it but because we trust that it’s temporary. Always has been. Always will be.

Sometimes, we even get curious—what if we didn’t just let it be… what if we actually tried to hold onto it?

I remember one time feeling really sad.
Not surface-level sad—deep, quiet, aching sadness. And for some reason, I didn’t want it to go away.
I found something strangely beautiful in it. So I leaned in gently. I actually tried to keep it around… but the more I welcomed it, the more it slipped away.
Not because I wanted it to go… but because I wasn’t resisting it anymore. It just dissolved—softly, naturally, peacefully.

A Simple Truth for Tough Moments

If you’re struggling right now—feeling stuck in thought or emotion—please know this:

You don’t have to figure it out.
You don’t have to force it away.
You don’t have to be any different than you are right now.

Let the thought be there. Let the feeling be there.
Like a wave, it will rise… and it will fall.

The less we resist, the more we rest.
And from that rest, wisdom often shows up on its own.

✨ Reflection Prompt

Is there a feeling you’ve been trying to let go of lately?

What would happen if you stopped trying to move it along… and just let it be here for now?

You might even gently welcome it as if you were curious about its presence.

What do you notice when you stop pushing and start allowing?

What shifts in you?

You’re Not Alone

So the next time someone says, “Just let it go,”
you might gently smile and say to yourself,
“No need. I’ll just let it be.”

With love,

17/100

Can’t get enough of this song!

And for those that seem to insist on the other POV. Both are beautiful songs filled with hope.