We have discussed several aspects of managing your health so far in this chapter: reducing stress, eating well, and keeping fit, for instance. An important component of your overall health is your emotional health. Particularly in the first year of college, many students have difficulty establishing positive relationships with others, dealing with pressure, or making wise decisions. Other students are optimistic and happy and seem to adapt to their new environment without any trouble. Being optimistic doesn’t mean that you ignore your problems or pretend that they will go away, but optimistic people believe in their own abilities to address problems successfully as they arise. Your ability to deal with life’s challenges is based on your emotional intelligence—how well you recognize, understand, and manage moods, feelings, and attitudes. Emotional intelligence is part of your personality; if you take a psychology course in college, you are likely to learn more about it.

Emotions are a big part of who you are; you should not ignore them. The better the emotional read you have on a situation, the more appropriately you can respond to it. Being aware of your own and others’ feelings helps you gather correct information about the world around you and allows you to respond in appropriate ways. If you are an older student who is back in college, you probably have a great deal of life experience in dealing with tough times.

As you read this section, think about the behaviors that help people, including yourself, to do well and the behaviors that interfere with success. Get to know yourself better, and take the time to examine your feelings and the impact they have on the way you act. You can’t always control the challenges of life, but with practice you can control how you respond to them. Remember that emotions are real, can be changed for the better, and significantly affect whether a person is successful.