Settle Down, Pay Attention, Say Thank You: A How-To by Kristen Race (Transcript)

Kristen Race

The following is the full transcript of Kristen Race’s TEDx Talk titled “Settle Down, Pay Attention, Say Thank You: A How-To” at TEDxMileHighWomen event. Kristen Race is the founder of Mindful Life and the author of Mindful Parenting.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here: Settle Down, Pay Attention, Say Thank You- A How-To- by Kristen Race at TEDxMileHighWomen

TRANSCRIPT:

Does anyone here feel at times that your life is just a little bit crazy? Modern life is crazy, and this craziness significantly impacts adults at work, parents at home and kids at school. I know a little bit about this craziness.

Seven years ago, the pace of my life led to a full body breakdown, an autoimmune disease, likely triggered by stress. This happened while I was pursuing my PhD, studying, ironically, the neurology of stress. I had a full time job, I was writing my dissertation in the evenings, I had a toddler, I was pregnant with my second child, and for some reason my husband decided this would be a great year to remodel the house.

Life was crazy, but it wasn’t just me. It didn’t matter whether I was talking to a teacher, a student, a CEO, or a mother of four. We were all living at the same frantic pace. As women, we are the consummate juggler. We are executives, entrepreneurs, social activists. We are mothers, caregivers for our aging parents, family organizers, homework tutors, and chauffeurs to the 18 different activities our kids are involved in each week.