Prayer Before Study

Lord, true source of light and wisdom, give me a

keen sense of understanding, a retentive memory,
and the capacity to grasp things correctly. Grant me
the grace to be accurate in my expositions and the
skill to express myself with thoroughness and clarity.
Be with me at the start of my work, guide its
progress and bring it to completion. Grant this
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Personal Development
Lesson 8: Emotional
Intelligence
 Emotion
Emotion is your reaction to any stimulus and comes from your limbic
system, the area in your brain that reacts automatically to the world
around you without your rational thought or reasoning (Hasson, 2012).
All emotions have reasons as to why you feel them. Emotions include

Three aspects or components:

• Cognitive,
• Physical,
• Behavioral .
 Three aspects or components of
Emotions:
1.Cognitive component refers to the person’s appraisal of the
situation. So, when you interpret an experience as threatening,
negative emotions such as Fear, anger, or anxiety may be felt.
2.Physical component is the body’s reaction to feelings or emotions.
When you are anxious, your heartbeat becomes faster, or you may
even experience fainting.
3.Behavioral component is the action tendency to deal with certain
emotions such as evading a frightening situation or leaving
unfinished tasks because of boredom.
 Emotions are measured
through:
 Self-report instruments or psychological tests.
 They can also be measured through physiological ways such as
monitoring blood pressure, heart beat, sweating of palms, and even
through blood chemistry and brain activities.
 Emotions are measured through behavioral manifestations such as
facial expressions and tone of the voice.
To illustrate, you do not talk to people when you are angry, or you
leave unfinished tasks when you are bored.
There are different types of emotions:
 Positive emotions may help you become more
motivated in doing your tasks; they may even
develop your creativity or establish harmonious
relationships, with others. Positive emotions are also
associated with good physical and psychological
conditions. Some of the positive emotions are
happiness, love, joy, hope, and excitement.
 Negative emotions, such as anger, rage, boredom,
and disgust, may reduce your efficiency and even
your motivation to perform certain tasks. However,
when emotions are too strong and we lose control of
handling our feelings, our thoughts and even our
actions are affected. Thus, we must know how to
manage our emotions.
• Your emotions tell you when something is wrong. When you feel that something is not right,
listen to your body. Your intuition we may be guiding you on what to do in a particular situation.
• More so, your emotions allow you to maintain and develop your relationships into meaningful
ones. Emotions that we usually call negative, such as shame, guilt, and pride, allow us to realize
that we have done our friends wrong and that we need to make amends. Positive emotions, on the
other hand, such as feeling accepted or understood, warm our hearts and make us value our
relationships. Such emotions enable us to respond lovingly and supportively.
• Hence, emotions are important because they create in us the
opportunities to see things meaningfully. We see purpose in our
lives and become more capable of making and implementing choices.
• Finally, your emotions bring out your feelings of self-respect
and self-worth. The more that you feel good about yourself,
the more open you are in experiencing the marvels and challenges
of life. In doing so, you allow yourself to realize your potentials to
the fullest. And so, you let yourself be you and celebrate your emotions.
 Managing Emotions
Celebrating your emotions is important. However, there is no point in
celebrating them if we do not know how to manage them well. Hence, dealing
with emotions is important in life. Emotions are so powerful—they can make
or break an individual.

 notice and be aware of your emotions.

 identify and name what you feel.
 owning and accepting what you feel.
 discernment and appropriation.
 take the appropriate action or steps.
 The Nature and Importance of
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is the capacity to
understand and manage emotions. According to
Daniel Goleman, one of the proponents of
emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence
includes the individual's ability to motivate oneself
despite frustrations, the capacity to control
impulses, and the ability to empathize with others.
Thus, an emotionally intelligent person is not only
capable of recognizing his or her feelings but is also
competent in identifying how various emotions
affect him or her.
 TO BE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT, YOU
NEED TO KNOW
HOW TO: identify, understand, use, and
manage your emotions (Hasson, 2012).
 Identifying an emotion simply means naming or describing it. This, however,
involves identifying the biological, cognitive, and behavioral makeup.
• Identification includes:
 how your body reacts to the cause (e.g., heart pounding, hands sweating,
changing tone of your voice). Being keen to bodily manifestations will allow
you to determine the intensity of how you feel the emotion.
 Also, you need to know what your thoughts are that triggered the emotion or
vice versa.
 You need to determine how you express your emotion, how often do you feel it,
how you express it, and what its consequences are, so that you may know how
appropriate you have emotionally responded to a situation.
Understanding emotions means making sense and meaning of
what you feel. To do so, you need to know the reason that you feel
the emotion. What specific need you want to satisfy or what
motivates you to feel it
Using your emotions means drawing on your emotions to direct
your actions, make decisions, and work with your reason to your
advantage. In doing so, you may create your mood. Your mood is
different from your emotions, but it is relative to what you feel
about your present situation.
Finally, Managing what you feel does not mean controlling it by
dominating or suppressing it. Rather, managing your emotions
entails skill and flexibility to do so.
 Emotional
Well-being
is attained only through knowing how to
manage your emotions and not by
ignoring the “negative” ones; rather, it is
by knowing that all emotions have
positive intent and may be used to your
advantage.
 DOMINICAN BLESSING
May God the Father bless us. May God the Son heal us.
May the Holy Spirit enlighten us and give us eyes to see
with, ears to hear with, and hands to do the work of God
with, feet to walk with, and a mouth to preach the word of
salvation with, and the angel of peace to watch over us
and lead us at last, by our Lord’s gift, to the kingdom.
Amen.
END