Emotional intelligence is not being book smart. Frankly, it will get you further in life. One of my favorite “Aura-isms” is “you can pay someone to get a college degree, but you cannot pay someone to have common sense!”
Emotional intelligence diverts from being taught in school. Emotional intelligence is the innate ability to discern which decisions will have the better outcomes overall. It is a ripple effect.
Parents can foster emotional intelligence. By encouraging children to be empathetic, sympathetic and to take responsibility for decisions that result in negative consequences. Parents should praise all positive decisions often. This is positive conditioning.
Emotional intelligence involves reaching beyond one’s self, and contributing back to one’s family, and community with; time, effort, care, communication and positive action. Even if you don’t agree with everyone? It is understanding that your well being and survival is wrapped up in the well being and survival of others. You can cluster this in microcosms; such as your immediate family, and friends. Then, expand it to society and the planet. Your clean drinking water for example, is everyone’s clean drinking water. That is a global example. There are many examples you can think of.
For example, I can find something I dislike or would not want to participate in, about almost every culture on earth. This is far outweighed, by my appreciation of what I do like about those same cultures. I do not dismiss all cultures or individual cultures based on a few things I would personally choose not to participate in. I understand that whether or not I like or agree with everyone, I am not in control of everyone. I don’t have the time or energy to denounce anyone from the basic human rights I have. Simply because I may not like their choices? Instead, I choose to focus on how I can best be of service to the whole, with my spare time. This is the generalized concept in action, of emotional intelligence. It can be cultivated as an adult. Basically, make positive choices that contribute largely to the well being of the whole, which includes yourself.
