II. EMOTIONS AND HEALTHY LIVING
Emotion plays a central role in our lives. It forms a subtext to everything we do and say. It is reflected in physiology, expression, and behaviour; it interweaves with cognition; it affects our relationships. Above all, emotion is centred internally, in subjective feelings. Like physical pain, emotion provides us with personal information that is integral to our well-being and even to our survival (Strongman, 2003).
Reviewing available research Goleman (1995) has demonstrated that people succeed not only because of high Intelligence Quotient (IQ) but because of superior skills in emotional control, self awareness and self management, social skills in influencing others and creating cooperative relationships, service orientation, the ability to acquire and apply knowledge about our emotions and emotions of others in order to solve problems. All these qualities fall under the now popular term, Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Unlike IQ, emotional intelligence can be developed and improved over time.