Emotional intelligence is capacity to recognize, understand, and manage one’s emotions and that of others. This “intelligent” concept focuses on role of emotion in our daily lives and how it affects our perception, reasoning, and behavior.

Emotions are pervasive in our daily existence. From time we wake up to time we retire to bed, we experience emotions. We can get excited by news of economic recovery, or we feel upset when our favorite team loses a championship game.

Moreover, we can get lonely when our friend of many years decides to look for greener pastures and we can feel anxious when our child does not go home on time after class.

So really, emotions happen everywhere and anytime. There is no day that passes by without emotions being involved. We experience emotions when we - win or lose, receive phone calls from long lost friends, greet our children good morning, say hello to our neighbors, prepare meals for our spouses, or ride subway train.

Emotions are just as normal as rising of sun.

However, there are times when our emotions can become overwhelming and can negatively affect our functioning. For instance, anger is normal. However, inappropriate display of uncontrolled anger can be destructive.

An immense example of misplaced sheep syndrome is current British mind set of buying of property in another country. Millions of middle-class and average people have given over their life savings in return for a square piece of land with a debatable construction sitting on it, in Spain, in Cyprus, Florida, et al! Not only have they handed over all that they have ever had but given it in return for something that lies a thousand miles away and that once excitement has worn off will become a costly burden that is visited only twice a year, if that! Yet, it is fashionable; it is ‘sensible’ thing to do, to buy some property in rural Turkey, just like neighbors have bought. It is profitable to buy a three bed-roomed house in Florida, because brochure said we could rent it back out when we don’t use it! The agent said that price is inclusive ………and so it goes on, each prospective buyer convinced that it is a wise thing to do in life and nobody saying otherwise because it is trend, sheep syndrome in action!

Another large example of man following man was YK2 period of disaster prediction! Somebody casually observed that computer clocks might not cope with change over to new millennium because nobody had thought about it before, despite fact that it was only a couple of years away! So what happened was a mad panic and had somebody said ‘boo’ in a rather large voice stampedes would have occurred, cities would have evacuated themselves and wars would have started. But what happened was that rumors and counter rumors spread like wildfire, rivers of possible scary scenarios ricocheted around world and public became so infused with impending disaster they just didn’t know which way to turn.

At least four years before turn of century process of panic indoctrination started and people rapidly became suffused with fear. The US government set up a command center at an initial cost of 50 million dollars to cope with impending crisis and throughout it all computer geeks and companies made fortunes as they set up Y2K software companies and became solemn experts on subject! Billions of Dollars, Pounds, Dong, etc. was spent on new equipment that had stickers plastered all over them that read, “I am Y2K compliant”, and power station night security guards lied without embarrassment to have their night off starting on 31st December!

Planes were going to fall out of sky at midnight. Russian missiles were going to arm themselves, to shoot across oceans and to land in middle of Sunset Boulevard! And lights would just switch off, water would stop coming out of taps and bank machines would never again issue another note simply because big hand could not quite get past top of hour!

The end of world is nigh.

When actual turning point came, nothing astounding or untoward happened! Planes did not collide in mid-air, nuclear explosions from local power station did not light up night skies and little aliens with green heads did not land to take over world! The only real tremors and aftershocks felt were a direct result of panic build-up of previous. Those who had stockpiled food in their underground bunkers had year’s worth of baked beans to work through; those who had stockpiled goods suddenly found out that their life savings were now invested in a worthless pile of batteries, torches and gas lamps that nobody really wanted anymore. Banks had problems on Monday morning as customers queued up to re-open closed accounts (money withdrawn because banks vaults would never open again) and portable bunker rental firms found it difficult to cope as their goods were returned in quick order!

All sheep should have felt very sheepish indeed but true to form, and because everybody was in same boat they just found other sheep trails to follow.