New Directions EQ Workshops

My Story of How I Learned EQ

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How I Learned to Make My Life Work For Me,
Instead of Against Me

By Glori Celis

I’ll start at the beginning of when I knew beyond any doubt when my life or should I say I was out of control. I was a young mother of a 2 year old little boy and an almost 1 year old little girl. I had a really bad temper back then. At the time I didn’t know it was a bad temper because when I was growing up my mother got mad for every little thing too.

So here I am with 2 little ones and I’m enraged every day. I knew it wasn’t right to hit toddlers hard but I thought if they did something wrong I needed to “swat” them. One HUGE fear that I had and it was on my mind on a regular basis was that I would not be able to control my temper and I’d lose it and I’d accidentally kill one of my children. One day my 2 year old little boy did something and I hit him on his inner thigh and it left a welt. I understood then that I crossed a line and that if I didn’t get help I would end up killing one of my kids.

Right after I hit my baby I got on the phone and I called CPS (Child Protective Services) on myself. I told them I needed help cause I was scared of my anger. They got me free day care so I got to have some time to myself which helped but it didn’t change my bad temper.

I told my husband, the father of my kids I needed to go to counseling and the only way I would go is if he called for me and made the appointment. I was terrified that a counselor was just going to tell me what I already knew that I was no good. My husband made the appointment and I started counseling. When I saw the counselor it was the first time I really felt like anybody really understood what I was saying or was even interested in what I had to say.

I was in weekly therapy for 7 years straight. It really started my road to EQ although I didn’t know what EQ was back then. All I knew was that I was feeling better more often and I was learning to see things differently. I had choices I never knew I had.

I have been learning about EQ now for over 30 years now. My 2 year old baby boy is now 33 years old. Because I got help I didn’t end up in prison “accidentally” killing one of my 4 children. I’m still learning what I feel and the beliefs that I have that create those feelings. I’m a TOTALLY different person internally than I was 30 years ago. EQ is what I’m passionate about. It literally changed my life and the lives of my children.

What surprises me most is how extremely important EQ is in changing people’s lives for the better and how little it is valued as a whole in this world. I know EQ is gaining momentum but we as people on this planet have a long way to go.

What I learned by studying EQ was that I’m in charge of my own experience, feelings and choices I make. I’m responsible for my life. I learned to stop blaming others or situations for what I saw was wrong in me or my world. One thing I got rid of was my rage. I no longer have a bad temper and that alone is worth a million dollars. I never used to think I had anything to be grateful for. I’ve learned to be grateful for myself, the amazing people I have in my life and the things I have. I’m not afraid of my feelings anymore. I’ve learned not to be so judgmental.

I believe the more EQ someone has the happier they are. If you have a little EQ you can be a little happy. If you have a lot of EQ you can be a lot happy. I believe the better we know ourselves the better our lives can be. I’m still learning how awesome a person I am and what an awesome person I’ve always been. Without EQ I would have never known that. I believe we are all here for a reason EQ helps us to figure out that reason. EQ is a lifelong study of yourself and aren’t we all worth it?

Glori