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.

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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

2.1k 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 (193)

Recent Reviews

Rainy

June 4, 2026

Excellent 🙏

Kari

June 2, 2026

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

Melissa

June 1, 2026

Thank you David . This course has allowed me to see a little more clearly and offer acceptance around a difficult time 🙏 Much appreciated 🤍

Sandra

June 1, 2026

Highly recommend this series. A great meditation guide!

Laurel

June 1, 2026

Thank you . This course helped me immensely as I journey through some challenging situations. I will listen to it again

Natalia

May 31, 2026

Thank you! What a lovely, easy and fun approach you have to meditation (and to life)!

Cheryl

May 27, 2026

Thank you❤️

Estelle

May 21, 2026

What a great course clarifying the paradox of " the more you can fully accept the resistance, the more things will shift for you". Accepting the reality of life is such an art. May we all dwell in our hearts whilst feeling and accepting this " pièce de résistance" 🤣. With peace and meta.✨✨✨

Shivani

May 20, 2026

I love all your courses David but this one really resonated with me as I focus on controlling thing. I would love to do a 50 day course with you!

May 19, 2026

Thank you. Thank you, thank you!

Marianne

May 19, 2026

Thank you David, there is a challenging time ahead in my life and your teaching in this course was just perfect. I can do hard things :)

Peggy

May 15, 2026

I understand that a deeper level of acceptance will shift my negative energy. Thank you David.

Keti

May 15, 2026

This was so helpful and transformative. Thank you

Hannah

May 14, 2026

Acceptance for who I am is what I've gained from this course. I finally saw how expectations are the obstacles causing the resistance. The expectations I put on myself to accommodate others became acceptance of myself in a way I've never felt before. Next step is putting that energy into loving myself, allowing me to heal so I can help others come to this understanding and acceptance. Thank you, Love ~Hannah ❤️

Michele

May 14, 2026

The steps were broken down so clearly that they seem possible. Than you - very helpful.

Cindy

May 14, 2026

Thank you for this fun little course 🙏 Blessings of gratitude🙏

Betsy

May 13, 2026

🙏🏻 so grateful for this course. Love the sandpaper analogy , things are going a little smoother now. Thank you for sharing your gift 💕

Natividad

May 13, 2026

Great course !!! It help a lot with my sticky problem. Accept the things you can’t change .

Monica

May 11, 2026

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