I came across a story and thought worth sharing.
Once in a village lived a father and a son. His father wanted to teach a valuable lesson to his son. He came up with a plan. That night he prepared dinner for both; it was a bowl filled with noodles. The food was glazing with the soup on top, the spices gave a pleasant aroma, by looking at the food the boy decided that it’s going to be delicious.
On top of that, his father placed an egg in addition to it. Those days it was hard to find an egg for food. It should either be some festive time or some celebration at home. It was tough to afford eggs. Now he started craving for the food. His father said, “Son, you can choose any bowl, any one of these two. The choice is yours”.
The boy saw two bowls with the same soupy glazing delicious noodles where one has an egg, the other was empty. With no waste of time, he grabbed the bowl with the egg and started his hunt. When he was halfway through, he slightly lifted his eyes and peeped into his father’s bowl. For his astonishment, he found two eggs in it. This guy was highly disappointed. He thought if he could have not made a hasty decision, he could have figured out things. His father seeing his fizzled look said, “Son, never make hasty decisions letting your emotional trigger rule your game. A thought process with patience will give all benefits in life”.
The next day the same thing happened for dinner, his father placed two bowls one with egg or without egg and said the same thing. “Son, you can choose any bowl, any one of these two. The choice is yours”. This time this boy wisely said, “father you work hard and earn for this family, so I would like you to choose first”. Father with so much delight chooses the bowl with no egg. With no second thoughts, the boy took the bowl, which was left, and he found two more eggs hiding as a gift for him for his patience towards life.
Friends, Emotional Intelligence is one of the most important skills a person must develop. It’s the capability to know and control our emotions. Emotions poured out of control can create a ripple effect and cause pervasive damage in a relationship.
The keyword I have learned while developing and incorporating emotional Intelligence is ‘Patience’. It’s the ability to endure the most difficult circumstances.
“One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.” — Chinese Proverb.
My opinion on Emotional Intelligence is this.
- Not all the words have to be spoken right that moment
- Not all the feeling has to be emoted at every point of time
- Wait, paraphrase, observe, deliver and stay cool.