10/04/2026
I agree with “let them,” but I think I’m starting to understand it a little differently.
Maybe the lesson isn’t don’t explain yourself.
Maybe it’s know who you’re explaining yourself to.
I will happily explain myself to someone who genuinely wants to understand me, because I want people to do the same with me. I don’t want to form an opinion of someone and then protect that opinion from new information. Tell me I misunderstood. Give me the context I was missing. Correct me. “I don’t want to be right — I want to get it right” (That’s my saying).
But I’m realizing that not everyone is having that same conversation.
Sometimes you explain yourself, provide the context, correct the misunderstanding — and six months later you discover that none of it landed. They weren’t looking for information that might change their mind.
And maybe that’s where “let them” belongs.
Tell the truth. Clarify yourself when clarification has somewhere to land. But eventually, stop arguing your case to someone who isn’t actually listening.
I still think there’s something a little sad about that. Because while I’m learning to “let them,” I also don’t want to be the person someone else has to “let.”
I want to be curious enough to listen when someone says I’ve misunderstood them. Humble enough to change my mind when the facts change what I thought I knew.
Know who is worth explaining yourself to — and be the kind of person worth explaining to.
Maybe “let them” isn’t only about learning to let people misunderstand you.
Maybe it’s also a reminder to make sure you’re not the one refusing to understand.
Let Them. The people who want to misunderstand you will do it no matter how many explanations you give.
So stop exhausting yourself trying to manage other people's perceptions.
Let Them have their opinions.
Your energy is far too valuable to spend it convincing people who have already made up their minds ❤️
