Let Them. Let Go. Let Light In.

“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” — Lao Tzu

“Surrender is a journey from outer turmoil to inner peace.” — Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” — Pema Chödrön

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thích Nhất Hạnh

I had what I perceived at times to be a really tough week. Work felt heavier than usual, and I am living and working in the middle of what is turning into a full house remodel. There are service people coming in and out constantly, and my dogs bark every single time, which feels like an all-day event. It is loud, it is distracting, and it is hard to land anywhere that feels quiet or settled.

What I started to notice was not just what was happening around me, but how much I was pushing against it internally. I kept thinking it should be different, that it should be calmer, that so much should not all be happening at once. That steady resistance was what was actually exhausting me. Nothing about the situation itself was truly wrong, but I was meeting it like it was.

In the middle of the week, I had a hair appointment, and the owner of the salon had Mel Robbins statement, “Let Them” tattooed on her forearm. She told me she loved it so much that she paid for all twelve of the women who work for her to get the same tattoo. Timing is everything and it was exactly what I needed to be reminded of in that moment. That God showing up moment.

Let them be how they are. Let them move the way they move. Let them show up however they are showing up. Let them.

In a Satsang from November 19, 2000, Kathy spoke about this concept in a way that feels even deeper now. She said that we have to be careful about what it means to seize the moment, because if we are already in a restless or unhappy state, then seizing the moment just means we are going to sit there and dwell in that feeling. She said that is not the point at all. The point is to seize the moment and then place ourselves into acceptance, to use that exact moment to accept our life and what God has given us. She talked about how we are meant to rise above our current circumstances, and that she meant that literally. Not as an idea, but as an actual experience. She said that no one lives in circumstances where everything is always great, but that does not mean we cannot have something greater within us.

In the same Satsang, She read from the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book:

“Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, or situation, some fact of my life, completely unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment.”

That is exactly what I could see in myself. I was disturbed because I was not accepting what was happening. I was resisting it in small ways all day long, and that resistance was what was creating the tension.

Kathy said that being part of the solution is not ruminating over the problem. It is accepting the will of God in that moment and saying thank you, no matter what it is. She said that even if you are crying on the outside, your heart can still be saying thank you. Acceptance does not always look calm or perfect, but it is something that can still be happening underneath everything else.

In the same AA passage, the author wrote, “Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by mistake.”

That is not always an easy concept, especially when things feel chaotic or overwhelming, but there is something in it that softens everything. It shifts me out of trying to control or fix everything and into allowing what is happening to simply be what it is.

Kathy promised in the same Satsang that if you stay awake in meditation, truly present and consistent, you will come to know that you have a lover inside of you. That the feeling we often think is coming from someone else is actually already within us. That it has nothing to do with what is happening outside of us, and everything to do with where we are placing our attention.

I could feel the difference this week between being completely caught in everything and stepping slightly back from it. When I was caught in it, everything felt urgent and personal, and I felt like I needed to respond to all of it. When I softened, even just a little, and stopped arguing with what was happening, there was space. Nothing around me changed, but I was not as entangled in it.

That is where “Let Them” started to be a part of my perception. It is not about checking out or not caring. It is about releasing the need to control what is not mine to control and returning to what actually is mine, which is my inner state and my connection to something deeper.

I also started to notice how much I actually have, even in a week that felt overwhelming. My home is being improved. I have work that challenges me. I have a meditation practice that I can return to. None of that disappears just because the moment feels difficult.

There was a moment where I caught myself in the middle of everything, and instead of reacting, I just paused. I did not try to fix anything or mentally rearrange what was happening. I let it be what it was and brought my attention back inward. It was subtle, but it shifted how I felt for the rest of that day. So much so that by the time my boss responded to my DM about a potential issue with a large client, I was able to respond, “It is always darkest before the dawn,” and mean it.

Peace is not something I find when everything settles down. It is something I return to, again and again, regardless of what is happening around me. The more I practice letting them, especially through my daily meditation practice, the more natural it feels to trust what is already there, and the less I feel pulled by everything happening on the outside.