The world would be different and better if people paid more attention to their emotions and the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence isn’t having to be perfect or knowing everything all the time; it’s about understanding yourself, your feelings, and how your emotions affect the people around you. Understanding these things allows you to understand others and to navigate the world in a better and healthier way.
As I think about emotional intelligence more and more, I realize that all the arguments, misunderstandings, and even big problems could be avoided if more people had emotional intelligence and learned how to understand.
In high school, emotions are a big part of this time in life. There’s stress from homework, tension with people, and sometimes, problems at home that can’t be explained. Even though we feel so much, it’s so hard for us to deal with emotions in a healthy way and show them to others. Instead of just talking about the problems or talking things out, people shut down, crash out, or pretend like everything isn’t building up.
I’ve seen many friendships and relationships fall apart because people just assume the worse without communicating. I’ve also seen students getting mad at teachers or people around them because they are very overwhelmed and don’t know how to handle their emotions. At this point in life, emotional intelligence is necessary.
Another reason emotion intelligence matters is that it helps us become more understanding. If you can figure out your emotions, it will be easier to recognize that other people could be dealing with struggles too. Someone may be rude or distant from you, but they could be going through something stressful and just don’t know how to talk about it.
When you don’t think of the possibilities of what others experience, it’s easy to judge. I’ve done this myself. More people have to consider that something could be going on in someone’s life that leads them to behave the way they do. Some people have to be more patient instead of getting all defensive.
Emotional intelligence could reduce a lot of conflicts and issues, not just in school but in every situation. When people get into arguments, they are often more worried about being right in the situation instead of listening to each other and figuring out the issue.
Emotional intelligence teaches you to understand what is really going on and how to deal with it. Sometimes disagreements are about being unheard or unappreciated. If more people understood this, there would just be conversations instead of screaming fights.
Developing emotional intelligence isn’t very hard, but it does require you to put in some effort. It means thinking before you start reacting. It means trying to understand people and their emotions. It’s accepting that most of the time emotions are a weakness. There are many opportunities that can help you grow. Sometimes people need to learn to be self-aware and have lot of patience.
The world doesn’t need just smarter and better people. It needs emotionally intelligent people–people who know how to listen and know how to understand emotions.
Emotional intelligence most likely won’t solve everything, but it will help us grow. Relationships and friendships depend on emotional intelligence. It’s not a little thing to have, emotional intelligence is necessary.
