Let It Be, Not Let It Go

How often do you hear the phrase, “just let it go”? It’s a common piece of advice offered when we’re hurting, ruminating, or holding on to something painful. But if you’ve ever tried to follow it, you probably noticed how impossible it feels. The harder we try to “let go,” the more tightly we seem to cling.

What if the invitation isn’t to push something away but to allow it to be?

“Let it be” has a different quality. Instead of struggling with our thoughts and emotions, we soften into them. Instead of fixing or escaping, we practice presence. Non-dual awareness reminds us that thoughts and feelings aren’t enemies — they are movements within the same field of being that we are.

When we “let it be”:

• We acknowledge what is here without judgment.

• We make space for the full range of experience — grief, joy, fear, love.

• We stop defining ourselves by the passing content of the mind.

This is not passive resignation. It is an active, compassionate openness. In non-duality, there is no separate “me” who has to control experience — there is only the flow of experience itself. Thoughts come and go, sensations rise and fall, emotions move through. By letting them be, we discover the peace that was already here, beneath the effort to manage it all.

So the next time you hear “let it go,” pause. Breathe. See what happens if you simply “let it be.” Notice that the present moment doesn’t need your control, only your awareness.

In that simple shift, struggle gives way to stillness.