Lesson 2 Transcript

Below is the full transcript of Lesson 3

This lesson and transcript are part of the RAD for Life social-emotional learning program. Educators, counsellors, and parents may view and use this material for personal learning or classroom discussion. The content may not be reproduced, redistributed, or used commercially without permission. The lesson is provided so you can preview and plan how RAD may be used in your classroom or particular setting. Copyright © RAD for Life. All rights reserved.

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Lesson 3 Transcript: Accepting Thoughts and Feelings

The following transcript accompanies the RAD Lesson 3 video and focuses on the second skill in the RAD framework: Accept. In this lesson, learners explore what it means to accept uncomfortable thoughts and feelings and how this skill can help them respond to challenges in ways that align with what matters most.

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Welcome back to radforlife.com — the home of the RAD SEL Lessons.

This is Lesson 3: A is for Accept.

Before we jump in, let’s do a quick review.

In Lesson 1, we learned that RAD stands for Recognize, Accept, and Do — three skills that work together to help you respond to life’s challenges in meaningful ways.

In Lesson 2, we focused on the first skill: Recognize. You learned how to tell the difference between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, and practiced identifying them.

Today, we move on to the next skill: A, which stands for Accept.

So what does “accept” mean in RAD?

In RAD, accepting means learning to accept uncomfortable thoughts and feelings without judging them, trying to push them away, or pretending they don’t exist.

Why do we need this skill?

Often our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings can be so overwhelming that they cause us to do things that are not in line with the life we want to live. At times these thoughts and feelings may be so strong that we go to great lengths to get rid of them, even doing things that are unhelpful or harmful to us in the long run.

Let’s try something together.

For the next few moments, I challenge you not to think about axolotls. Maybe I might even give you a prize if you don’t think about axolotls.

Now I could talk about axolotls and where they live and what they eat. I could share fascinating facts about axolotls and talk about how some of them even became martial arts experts… I can’t let this joke go.

Anyways, you could work very hard not to think about any of this. You might even put your fingers in your ears to block me out so you don’t have to think about them.

However, if you did that, you would be missing all the great things happening in this video. My amazing jokes — you didn’t hear them. The fascinating facts about axolotls — you missed those too. The RAD SEL lessons you love so much — also missed — just so you wouldn’t think about axolotls… which you probably thought about anyway.

Something similar happens in life when we experience uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. We try to distract ourselves, ignore them, or pretend they don’t exist. Often we end up responding to these experiences in ways that move us away from the kind of person we want to be.

So am I asking you to agree with these thoughts and feelings? No. Accepting them is not about agreeing with them or liking them.

Am I asking you to stop them? No. That would be impossible. Our minds are busy places, and our feelings come and go.

Accepting simply means allowing thoughts and feelings to be there instead of fighting against them. In RAD, this is what we call accepting.

One important point: you may have noticed that I have been using the terms uncomfortable thoughts and uncomfortable feelings. That’s because in RAD we believe there is no such thing as a “bad” thought or feeling. There are only comfortable ones and uncomfortable ones.

All of this may be new, so let’s explore the idea using chairs.

Take a look at these chairs. Which ones look comfortable? Which ones seem uncomfortable?

Some chairs are clearly cozy — you could sit in them for hours. Others? Not so much.

But here’s where it gets interesting: comfort depends on the person and the situation.

A tiny chair might be perfect for a toddler but way too small for a tall basketball player. That same basketball player, however, might love that tiny chair for certain things — like milking a cow.

A massage chair might feel amazing if you have sore muscles. But it might feel awful if you have a sunburn or itchy bug bites on your back.

Just like chairs, thoughts and feelings can be comfortable or uncomfortable depending on the person and the situation.

Going on a trip might feel exciting for one person but stressful for someone else. Thinking about a big performance might feel comfortable for one person and uncomfortable for another.

And remember: none of these experiences are “bad.”

Even uncomfortable thoughts and feelings make sense at different times. Feelings like sadness or fear, or thoughts like self-doubt, may actually tell us that something is important to us.

They are not bad — they are simply uncomfortable. They are part of life, and everyone experiences them.

In RAD, we practice accepting all our thoughts and feelings — even the ones we would rather not have — because fighting them usually makes things worse.

Think about it. Have you ever tried not to feel anxious? Have you ever told yourself to stop thinking about a big event?

It usually doesn’t work.

In fact, trying to push those thoughts or feelings away often makes them stronger. These thoughts and feelings might be uncomfortable, but uncomfortable doesn’t mean wrong or dangerous — it just means uncomfortable.

That’s why RAD teaches a different approach.

In RAD, we allow our thoughts and feelings to be there. Like a chair you don’t love, you don’t have to throw it out of the room. You don’t even have to sit in it.

You can simply notice it — and then keep moving toward what matters to you.

Accepting isn’t about giving up or pretending everything is fine. It’s about stopping the struggle. When you stop struggling with your feelings, you free up energy to do what is important to you.

And that’s what RAD is all about: helping you do the things that matter to you so you can live the RAD life I keep talking about.

Let’s summarize Lesson 3.

All thoughts and feelings are okay. Some are comfortable. Some are uncomfortable. Learning to accept the uncomfortable ones gives you the freedom to keep living your life and doing what matters to you.

In later lessons we’ll take this skill even further. You’ll learn specific skills like Taking Notice and Taking Time to help you respond to uncomfortable thoughts and feelings in a very RAD way.

For now, check out the activity for this lesson where you’ll practice labeling thoughts and feelings as comfortable or uncomfortable.

Until next time — Be RAD.

Activity Three

In Activity Three, look at each scenario and try to decide what the person might be thinking or feeling. Then reflect on whether that thought or feeling might be comfortable or uncomfortable.

For each scenario you only need to list one thought or one feeling. This is not a test of how detailed you can be.

Once you have chosen a thought or feeling, give your opinion on whether it would be comfortable or uncomfortable using the 1–5 rating scale, where 1 is extremely uncomfortable, 3 is neutral, and 5 is extremely comfortable.