In a previous post, I have cautioned against emotional intelligence if it was misused to manipulate or commit unscrupulous purposes. I still believe that. However, the emotional intelligence by itself is a skill that is generic, neutral, and useful in understanding oneself and other people. Allow me to elaborate.
The skill is learnable. Although not taught in school, the emotional intelligence can be learned through personal experience. Be it our preferences or values, the more we steep in our own feelings, the more it helps to enhance our awareness and empathy of what others are going through.
Take my recent loss of my mother for example. Even though I understand the concept of grief, its impacts and complexities hit home with me like never before through this episode. It has made me appreciate more the emotional effect of such loss and relate better to others in similar circumstances.
So, to clarify – the emotional intelligence is a soft skill that can be learned to better aware of oneself and the people we associated with. Whether it is misused or abused absolutely depends on the individual character. The outcome is up to each of us.
How do you rate your emotional intelligence?
Running with Buddha 