COURSE

The Art Of Accepting Hard Things

There are moments in life where we just have a hard time accepting things as they are. It could be a relationship dynamic, a work situation, an emotion, health problem, death, or a thousand other things. When that happens, we might begin to ruminate, over-analyze, obsessively problem solve, feel despondent or confused. Our inability to accept reality as it is can lead to a lot of pain and suffering. The gap between the way the world is and the way we want it to be can even become unbearable. In this five part video course, David will walk you through a powerful process of facing, accepting, and shifting your energy in relationship to something difficult in life. You'll choose the hard thing, meet it in stillness, and allow whatever resistance and emotion is there to move through you. The paradox is that when we accept things as they are, that is often when they begin to change. What we resist tends to persist. But when we turn toward difficulty with awareness and courage, something can shift from the inside out. Filmed in the mountains of Boulder, Colorado, this is a grounded, honest, and deeply practical approach to one of life's most essential skills: the art of accepting hard things.

Acceptance Emotionalhealing Lettinggo Secularmindfulness Guidedimagery Stress Groundedhappy Recoveryhealing Secular Visualization

Meet your Teacher

David Gandelman

Boulder, CO, USA

David Gandelman is an author and spiritual teacher, whose mission is to awaken souls on their path of growing into being human, and living an enlightened, purpose-driven life. He is the host of the popular Grounded Sleep podcast, and his meditations have been streamed millions of times. He has taught at Cornell University, NBC Universal, SAP, and numerous other organizations.

5 Days

2.4k students

4.9 stars

11 min / day

Acceptance

English

Lesson 1

The Birth Of Resistance

In this opening lesson, you're invited to become present with feelings of resistance rather than pushing them away or getting lost in rumination. Through a gentle guided meditation, you'll have the chance to notice where resistance lives in your body, feel its texture and quality, and discover that when you stop fighting it, something starts to soften on its own.

Lesson 2

Facing The Truth Of Your Feelings

In this lesson, you'll have the opportunity to delve into the process of accepting hard things. Often when we struggle with a difficult situation, most of our energy goes into trying to change it, analyze it, or mentally solve it. But much of the suffering we experience is not the situation itself. It's our relationship to how we feel about it. Through meditation, you will bring a difficult situation you're working with into awareness and explore your emotional response to it. Rather than pushing your feelings away or trying to explain them, you'll have the chance to practice something simpler and more powerful: allowing them to be as they are without any judgment.

Lesson 3

What Something Hard Is Trying To Teach You

In this guided meditation, you'll bring the hard thing forward again and this time ask it a direct question. What is it that won't go away until you understand it? The answer may come as an image, a feeling, a word, or simply a layer of emotion clearing so you can see more clearly. Whatever arises is the insight. You don't need to engineer it. You need to be still enough to let it surface.

Lesson 4

When Things Don't Feel Fair

At the core of most things we struggle to accept is a feeling that life simply isn't fair. Someone wronged us. Things didn't go the way they should have. And that feeling deserves to be acknowledged, not argued with or bypassed. In this lesson, you'll have the opportunity to go beneath the surface story and meet that deeper current. Not to decide whether life is or isn't fair, but to feel the weight of that belief and let it begin to soften. Like diving beneath choppy water into stillness, there is a deeper layer of peace underneath even the heaviest emotions.

Lesson 5

When Acceptance Opens The Path

Many of us try to manage pain by controlling outcomes or chasing perfection. But when we act from that place, from anxiety, fear, or the need to force things into a certain shape, that energy poisons whatever we touch. The invitation of this final lesson is to take action from a different place: from presence, awareness, and compassion. In this closing meditation, you'll return to the hard thing one last time and ask it a final question: what is my next step with you? The answer might be a deeper layer of acceptance, an emotion that still needs to move through, an honest conversation, or a concrete action in the world. Whatever arises is your truth. And when you stop being in resistance to life, far more doors open than you ever thought possible.

4.9 (251)

Recent Reviews

Lucy

July 3, 2026

This was a clear and simple course that had tremendous impact. Thank you!

Philip

June 30, 2026

We want more insights like this!!! Thank you David! Namaste!

Angela

June 29, 2026

Thank you David . I love your laugh and dad joke.

willa

June 29, 2026

A great topic to do a class on only i didn't particularly find it useful. The laughter however, was almost contagious because David gandleman is so genuine

Nancy

June 27, 2026

I really appreciate such a gentle and kindhearted approach with touches of humor. You are a talented teacher, David. And you make acceptance of the difficult so much more accessible. Thanks.

Sofia

June 26, 2026

Maravilhoso mesmo o que estava a precisar! Vou ouvir outra vez até encontrar resposta

Heather

June 22, 2026

Great insight and opened me to awareness. Thank you. 🤩

Mary

June 22, 2026

Excellent course!!! Thank you!

Barbara

June 20, 2026

thought provoking. insightful…excellent!

Esmé

June 13, 2026

Wonderful course. It helped me to shift my feelings about a racial attack in a practical and non-conceptual way. 🙏🏼🌻💚

Stephanie

June 12, 2026

Thank you for a great course and opportunity to shift my awareness.

Lois

June 9, 2026

Loved this course

Michelle

June 7, 2026

Thank you so much 🙏🏻

Mike

June 7, 2026

Thank you for a wonderful course. It was very helpful and though provoking. I love all your meditations.

Deb

June 6, 2026

I enjoyed the course. Sometimes the end felt abrupt but overall I enjoyed it.

Julia

June 5, 2026

Just finished this course and found it extremely helpful. I was diagnosed with MS last week and while I feel like i still have a long road to finding full acceptance, this course really helped me make a little progress moving through my grief. Thank you David.

Rainy

June 4, 2026

Excellent 🙏

Kari

June 2, 2026

I loved this and highly recommend to anyone at anytime. ❤️💯🧚

Melissa

June 1, 2026

by David Gandelman

10 min

4.7

• GUIDED

Good Morning Gratitude Practice

David Gandelman

20 min

4.6

• GUIDED

Deep Relaxation For Sleep

David Gandelman

18 min

4.8

• GUIDED

Mastering Anxiety

David Gandelman

17 min

4.7

• TALKS

100% Relaxation For Sleep

David Gandelman

12 min

4.6

• GUIDED

Meditation For Beginners: Letting Go

David Gandelman

8 min

4.7

• GUIDED

Morning Stillness

David Gandelman

15 min

4.6

• GUIDED

I Can't Sleep Meditation

David Gandelman

23 min

4.8

• GUIDED

Vipassana For Sleep: Grounded Sleep Podcast #2

David Gandelman

16 min

4.7

• GUIDED

Grounded Morning

David Gandelman

12 min

4.7

• GUIDED

Acceptance

David Gandelman

Trusted by 36 million people. It's free.

Get the app

Retreat categories

Top Retreats

Find Your Perfect Retreat

Blog categories

Top Articles

How to Meditate

Meditation Timer

The Art Of Accepting Hard Things

Recent Reviews

More from David Gandelman

21 Days Of Morning Gratitude

Letting Go Of Attachment

Learning From The Masters

The Energetics Of Success & Manifestation

Attracting Your Soulmate Series

The End Of Anxiety

7 Days Of Silence

Spirituality 101

The Energetics Of Money