From October 6 to November 24, 2020, Fondacio Asia held an 8-week workshop on emotional intelligence as part of its year-long learning process titled “Shared Journey of Transformation.”
Story-telling :
It's a new day for Holly.
She gets ready for the day and gets to work. Thank goodness, despite the pandemic, she can work safely from home. Everything is ready and planned for the day.
Then, suddenly, an “unwanted friend” visits him.
She begins to feel heavy and uncomfortable. She thinks about the uncertainty of tomorrow, the deadlines that are approaching, the projects and opportunities that she is missing out on, all because of the pandemic.
Knowing that she can't do anything about it makes her angry: at the government, her boss, and sometimes even at herself. It's affected her work and sometimes even her relationships with the people she loves.
Like Holly, we sometimes feel trapped in the situation.
We all want to make the most of our days, but sometimes it's hard to catch ourselves. Knowing that we're wasting our time worrying about things only adds to the list of things we're worrying about.
This is why emotional intelligence is important. Studies even say it is more important than IQ for success.
Yet what do we know about our emotions?
Why did Fondacio Asia choose to study emotional intelligence through the “Shared Journey” program?
From October 6 to November 24, 2020, Fondacio Asia held an 8-week workshop on emotional intelligence as part of its year-long learning process titled “Shared Journey of Transformation.”
The workshop, titled “Being Whole Being Me,” led by Malar Villi of Hearts and Minds, was attended by over 30 Fondacio Asia members from the Philippines, Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos.
As with everyone, this pandemic has affected the various missions of Fondacio Asia.
Our various Young Lives centres have had to either postpone their courses or move online. Fondacio Asia has had to quickly adapt its sessions and workshops online while the production of Youn Sone has been hampered. Interaction between our local communities (in Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines) has been limited to online gatherings. New challenges and limitations are emerging.
Yet, for our participants and beneficiaries, we must adapt and continue to serve them.
This workshop aims to help us adapt to the situation and continue to be more effective in our missions. In addition, to become more effective in facing our challenges in the different aspects of our lives.
We wanted this session to help our members build relationships with each other – to become aware of, manage and express their emotions and to manage interpersonal relationships with care and compassion.
During the 8 sessions we covered the following topics: Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, Motivation, Personality Plus, Team Spirit, Feelings, Emotional Growth Tools and Hormones/Stress.
Here is one of the techniques/tools we learned, called TFA (Thinking, Feeling, Action)
We take an event from our life for us to study. In this example, it was when an elderly person cut the queue.
Step 1: Feeling - We start in the middle, where it is easiest to identify. How did I feel during this event? In the example, she felt furious.
Step 2: Think - Having identified the feeling, we now look at why we felt that way. In the example, she felt angry because she thinks the older person was an opportunist.
Step 3: Action – Next we begin to understand why this event caused us to act in a certain way.
It's just to understand why we feel and act in a certain way. Especially if we are not at peace with our actions.
This is where we try to make things better. We try to see things differently.
Step 4: Alternative thinking - I try to think about what other reasons the older person might have for doing such an act. Maybe the person was in a hurry, or didn't see the line, or had an emergency.
Step 5: Alternative Feeling - When considering alternative reasons, it is certain that we would also have different feelings about the event. If the person did not see the queue, we would be more forgiving. Or if the person had an emergency, we might even sympathize with the elderly person. This will then lead us to act differently.
What about you? Can you remember an event where you were not satisfied with your reaction or actions to a situation? Why not try this exercise with the most recent experience you have had.
If we consistently practice this simple technique, we can free ourselves from regret and avoid hurting our relationships or ourselves.
How does the “Shared Journey” program enrich the learning experience?
With Malar's superb animation and engaging stories, every session is truly enriching.
And because we do it as part of the “Shared Journey of Transformation,” we can learn and affirm each other in learning this important skill.
As Malar said, simply by sharing our stories, we can inspire others even without realizing that our stories are inspiring. At the same time, others can show us how strong and courageous we are in the face of our challenges, which helps us appreciate our situations and ourselves better.
This is where learning together makes the journey more meaningful and fruitful.
We could have attended these sessions separately, but that won't give us the impact we get now that we're learning together.
So we also encourage you, if you find a place to learn about emotional intelligence or any other topic for that matter, to find a family or friend that you trust and who can accompany you on your journey. You will definitely learn a lot from each other.
Conclusion
Sometimes we neglect, fear, or despise our emotions, but God gave them to us as a gift to enjoy. He makes life more enjoyable and sometimes even shows us the way or the answer.
Like some of us who joined this with hesitation or indifference, you may also find it to be a fun journey worth starting. And perhaps for some, it is the journey God has prepared for us so that we can finally break through and live the life He designed for us.
Let's be more efficient every day by mastering our emotions. Although it is simple, it is not necessarily easy. It takes daily practice to be aware of our emotions. Little by little, our efforts will help us build the life we love and love the life we have created.
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