Emotional Quotient

After a certain point in life, the significance of wealth and IQ no longer remain in the forefront. With few honourable exceptions, the chances of achieving something spectacular at this age begin to diminish. Around the age of forty-five or fifty, the realisation that the period of prosperity is waning starts to settle in the mind. This marks the beginning of a internal struggle to revisit and reassess our lives and our surrounding circumstances from a different perspective. Here are some points related to this phase:

Increased Responsibilities: Both professional and personal responsibilities tend to increase during this time. Believing that we can manage everything solely through our intelligence and wealth can be a misconception. Therefore, it’s essential to stay connected with others. Striking a balance between our principles and the need to maintain social relationships is crucial. Excessive compromise of principles made to maintain social life can be a disturbing factor for a sensitive individual. This is where our emotional intelligence is truly tested. Ability to bounce back quickly from painful compromises made depends on one's emotional resilience.

Balancing Duties and Personal Time: You have responsibilities in your professional and personal life, and you wish to give full attention to these. As far as these responsibilities are concerned, you want to be  "Eklavya". Yet, you also want to actively participate in other events happening around you. The key role of emotional intelligence here is to mentally visualize your day, week, and month—mapping out responsibilities and life beyond them. This mental image continually evolves, especially as priorities shift and new opportunities or challenges emerge.

Dealing with Disappointment: Today, we observe an interesting phenomenon. Many of us feel disappointed when nothing significant happens in their lives. What is the minimum duration of this period of "Nothing cool happening in my life" to trigger this frustration? It can be as trivial as few hours. Our ingrained habits and sanskars help us cope with these situations. The more we distance ourselves from gadgets, the freer we feel. Feeling free makes it easier to avoid depression. This is one reason why the lack of open spaces in our cities is really concerning. Without green spaces, people tend to stay indoors further isolating themselves or contribute to traffic congestion with their vehicles, further frustrating themselves.

Goals in Life: Life involves both short-term and long-term goals, including personal ambitions and organisational objectives. The ability to bring everyone along and adapt these goals amidst fluctuating circumstances depends greatly on emotional intelligence.

Depth of Emotional Intelligence: The true depth of emotional intelligence is reflected in the ability to begin connecting with the Divine / almighty as early as possible in the later stages of life. This might include chanting the names of God, transforming self-esteem in a positive direction, or engaging in deep reading and reflection.

Village Life and Emotional Balance: I am always amazed at the emotional intelligence of people staying in villages who are closer to nature. Many of them possess a neutral and balanced outlook towards life's events. I believe their close connection to nature has greatly contributed to this outlook. That’s why I include a picture of a mighty tree here! It’s my habit to add unrelated images to my posts, often without hesitation.

My recent conversation with wise elders at home during a visit to Vasai significantly influenced the thoughts shared in this post.