Why is emotional intelligence so important for kids to learn?

If you grew up like most kids, you were often admonished by your parents to not cry. Little boys were told, "Man up; stop acting like a girl." Our parents never learned the importance of dealing and processing their emotions... neither did their parents.

- Angela Legh

As kids, most of us were taught to suck it up and repress our emotions. We may have been taught by our parents, teachers or other authority figures, who had no idea of the damage they wrought with that unfortunate advice.

Feelings and emotions are energy. On a cellular level, we are made of energy. All those atoms, molecules and cells that make up your body are bundles of energy. When a feeling is suppressed or rejected, the energy stays within us, it cannot be dissipated. Rejecting or suppressing a feeling amplifies and prolongs it. If we repeatedly suppress or reject a feeling, the corresponding energy builds up, becoming a burden that we carry.

The physiology and the biochemistry of an emotion, or of a feeling, lasts about 90 seconds. Anything beyond that and we're dealing with the concept of emotion. When your mind begins to think about the feelings, your feelings are amplified, and your exposure is prolonged. Beyond those 90 seconds, you are in the territory of emotions.