Let Things Be

This past month, I decided to release all obligations (the PhD, ODTV, and the creation of the new podcast Torch and Table) each weekend and embark on mini-unplanned-impromptu adventures with my family.

I needed to let things be, to release the grip of control and allow life to unfold without my constant management.

It was in this very sacred-very personal-very intentional pause that something unexpected happened.

I got a message:

"Congratulations on reaching 2,500 downloads."

What? How could this be?

I stared at the screen, unbelievably, and laughed out loud - a mixture of shock and joy bubbling from my depths. I assumed there must be some technical error or glitch in the Buzzsprout system. Perhaps the analytics were malfunctioning? But no. I carefully checked the detailed analytics dashboard, and there was the undeniable proof staring back at me. Hundreds of new downloads had accumulated in the span of just one month, all occurring during my complete absence from content creation, without me even releasing a single new episode!

It seemed utterly impossible, defying every conventional wisdom about content creation and audience growth.

And then, an illumination, like a time-lapsed blooming of a purple passion flower, expanded in my soul with breathtaking clarity and emotion.

That message arrived not because I pushed harder, hustled more, or sacrificed my well-being at the altar of productivity. It came precisely because I finally and unwittingly surrendered to the WIDSOM - that sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is nothing at all.

Letting Things Be Doesn't Mean Giving Up

Constant Listener, your purpose doesn't expire when you need to pause - it expands. Purpose deepens in the stillness, taking root in the very soil we fear will wash away if we don't constantly till it. The irony is that our constant motion often prevents the very growth we're seeking.

The wisdom you need to heal, to thrive, to be whole is there. It’s buried beneath the noise of expectation, of comparison, and of the relentless inner critic that masquerades as ambition.

We only need to quiet ourselves enough to hear what our souls have been trying to tell us.

When You Let Things Be, You Discover What You’re Done With

During my silence, I got real loud about what I was done with.

I'm done with settling for less - financially and spiritually. No more accepting crumbs when I've been created for a feast. No more limiting the imagination of my dreams.
I'm done giving energy to things that don't move my personal needle. The projects that drain without filling. The relationships that take without giving. The obligations that steal my time without feeding my purpose. The conversations that circle endlessly without leading anywhere meaningful.
I'm done mistaking output for value. The constant doing, producing, and achieving, floundering over metrics (most of which I do confess, I do not understand) that measure everything except what truly matters. And I'm done with the hustle that almost became my identity instead of a tool to serve my calling.

In my surrender, these realizations liberated me from chains that I didn't even know I was carrying.

When You Let Things Be, You Draw Closer to Yourself

1. I'm Alive ( I always celebrate this)

There was a time I didn't want to be. That's hard to write. Harder to say. But truer than anything I've known. And I'm still here. Not just existing, but truly living. Breathing with purpose. Moving with intention. Feeling everything - the pain, the joy, the uncertainty - and understanding that my ability to feel it all is the greatest gift I could have received. I've come to cherish this aliveness, this raw and beautiful experience of being fully present in my own life. This moment is mine, and my life continues to unfold with possibilities I couldn't see when darkness clouded my vision.

2. I'm Dreaming Bigger.

Not just dreaming safe. Dreaming bigger. Dreaming without the boundaries I once placed around my own potential. Dreaming with the audacity that comes from surviving what I thought would break me.

Seven years ago, I just wanted to retire from the classroom and impact my students. I placed careful limits around what I believed was possible, what I deserved, and what I could achieve without risking too much disappointment.

Now? I've got listeners in the Philippines, France, Canada, and the UAE. People I've never met, who wake up in time zones I've never visited, are listening to my words, finding resonance in my story, seeing themselves in my journey.

Me? From my living room? Absolutely, my voice is no longer contained within the confines of the classroom; it now reaches across oceans in real time. The message of confidence no longer echoes solely within the souls of my former students, and that Constant Listener is a destiny unfolding in ways I couldn't have orchestrated if I tried.

3. I Found More of Me.

I've grown. I've expanded. I'm full. Not with achievements or accolades, though they've come. Not with validation or approval, though I've received them. I'm full with something far more precious - a profound sense of wholeness that doesn't depend on external circumstances.

With heart. With the kind of strength you don't measure in pounds lifted, but in silence endured and hope held. With the quiet certainty that comes from walking through fire and emerging not just intact, but illuminated. With the wisdom earned through surrender, through letting go, through trusting the process even when it made no logical sense. I've discovered parts of myself I never knew existed - depths of resilience, wells of compassion, reservoirs of creativity that only revealed themselves when I stopped forcing and started flowing.

Let Things Be, Then Hold Yourself Close.

We chase too much. We prove too much. We exhaust ourselves trying to be - too much.

Letting things be isn't laziness or giving up. It's not walking away from your dreams. It's alignment at its purest—stepping into the ocean current of your own truth and allowing it to carry you where you're meant to go.

When you finally align with that inner knowing, the gains will overflow: