Emotional Intelligence

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Dr. Daniel Goleman was on Oprah Winfrey's Super Soul Sunday. (Her new season starts today.) He was talking about his book "Emotional Intelligence". He is a good friend of the Dali Lama and they have 'extended dialogues' with him each year. The Deli Lama said that emotional hygiene is so important. We wash our hands and our bodies but we need to also clean our minds. Clean your own borders and then your can reach out to others. There is the IQ and the EQ which is emotional intelligence. How can we achieve this? Getting 'into flow' is one way of doing this. Being aware of self, managing our emotions, tuning into those around us and our own needs. Making time for ourselves so we are mindful of ourselves. Having empathic concern for others, repore, making sure all of our life and how we live it lines up. Being aware of others around us is another way of gaining emotional intelligence. Wanting to help those around us, know if they are alright, if they are feeling good. Tune into those around us. Cognitive control about what we tell ourselves about how to look at ourselves. Compassion, he says, can be very suttle. Each interaction we have with another human being can involve compassion. Tune in and pay attention. Good parenting involves nurturing the seed and letting it grow. Helping a child feel good about both themselves and the world around them is very important. Giving them a good base and focusing on what they need each day to pepetuate goodness in their lives. Everyone can do 'something'. It may seem overwhelming. Act now even though you may not see the fruit of your actions in your life time. Nobody knows enough to be pesimistic. Think about it. Image courtesy of Flickr.com Commons