Avoid Drama

In 1997, Don Miguel Ruiz wrote an international bestseller, The Four Agreements, where he outlines principles (agreements) that help avoid needless suffering. Here is a paraphrase of one agreement:

“Don’t make assumptions.

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.”

Along those same lines,

Jim Greenman, in Caring Spaces, Learning Places (revised by Mike Lindstrom), wrote about ways to help children develop strong emotional health:

“Emotional Intelligence is a concept developed by Yale psychologist Peter Salovey and popularized by NY Times science writer Daniel Goleman... “[It] is a useful construct for trying to maintain a perspective on what is important in early childhood environments...In early childhood years, we develop a core personality and sense of ourselves...Emotional intelligence is nourished in an environment that requires children to make choices and develop the social skills – interpersonal and intrapersonal - to succeed in school and life.”

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