From whence I came, not a soul was aware, for my clandestine methods of translocation have always been held a mystery. Who I am has long since faded from the memories of even those to whom I would wholeheartedly deem as my closest friends. My stories have all but been lost to the temporal passing of this existence, to the weathering of time as it cascades in an endless torrent through the minds of every individual person, smoothing the details of the past away as a river to a stone until what remained of what once were vivid memories filled with emotion are simply smooth stones, impossible to grasp for more than a mere moment before slipping again into the current to be worn once again. But no more will this imminent fate have hold, for now I have taken the most beautiful and significant of my stones, hammer and chisel in hand, to restore it to sadly but a mere memory of what it once was. Here I leave a single memory, a talent, to be remembered and relived by those who may seek the wisdom and knowledge of their predecessors. To them I give the unsurpassably necessary gift of emotional literacy.

Now, if you understood at least half of that passage then you are probably pretty literate in the English language, and while most of it was silliness for the sake of writing with grandeur, I am here to share a literacy of mine. Most will overlook this literacy in search of other ‘more important’ things, however this is pure silliness. People need not only to understand how emotional literacy will not only help them help others, but to understand that it will also help them help themselves. Emotional literacy, or the ability to read, understand, and create emotions specifically in others and one’s self, gives people the powers of understanding and compassion, feelings of self worth and the ability to achieve peace of mind, and the ability to make friends of almost anyone anywhere.

What do I mean by “the powers of understanding and compassion” as stated above? If you think about it, enhanced understanding and compassion is being more able to help others. Understanding emotions, simply put, is the ability to comprehend and make sense of the emotions of those around you.With this capability, anyone would be able to read others’ emotions correctly, for sadly many strong emotions are mistaken for other lighter emotions. Understanding emotions would almost erase this error allowing us to understand each other as people far better than we ever could have. Compassion is similar, and a direct result of understanding. Compassion is the feeling of empathy and desire to help another in times of strife. Though I can’t quite remember where I heard it, “it is impossible to truly know someone and not love them,” and I think this completely applies to knowing the emotions of others. Understanding and compassion together are two of the most powerful tools one can possess, and as Stan Lee once said, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

Feelings of self worth and peace of mind are only slightly different from understanding and compassion but they do have a different end result than understanding and compassion. The feelings of self worth come as a result of understanding one’s own emotions. Because one is able to know exactly how they feel, they will know how to feel good if bad and better if good. One will, and I speak from experience when I say this, almost never feel worthless, even if he/she feels sad every once in awhile. After having the capability to improve one’s own emotional condition no matter what, the feeling of peace within him/her is astounding! When I stop to think about how I feel, I often feel just peace within me, a feeling that everything is right and nothing is left to bother me. This peace is an incredible result of having and using emotional literacy not only for one’s self, but for other’s benefit as well. Having emotional literacy is a skill everyone should try and achieve, even if it’s just for the personal peace.

The last of the three things I mentioned about emotional literacy is that it will cause one to be make friends of almost anyone anywhere. There are so many different types of people around the globe, is it really plausible to think that one person could make friends with almost every one of them? Absolutely. The only key is being willing to take the skills of emotional literacy and simply listen to others! People love to talk about themselves and the more one actively listens to them, the closer they feel to him/her. Not only that, but being able to cheer people up and be there for them is an amazing skill that will take any and all who wield it very far in life. If you notice, I did not say one can be friends with anyone with emotional literacy; I said almost anyone. Some people might just not need more friends, and not everyone can match with anyone since we are all different and unique in our own way. While some people may seem like buttheads, pardon my language, that is no reason to dislike them; just leave them be. Like those who wield it, emotional literacy is in no way a perfect thing, but it is an incredible tool nonetheless.

The ability to understand and uplift one’s self and others, emotional literacy, is an incredible skill that will even help one to make more friends and be a better friend to others. Emotional literacy, when used right, can help improve everyone’s lives. Some may unknowingly discard this skill as unnecessary, but they are greatly mistaken in that choice. Try this skill for yourself and see what comes of it; you will be surprised at what might happen.