Happy New Year. Please note that all of these top 10 moments are from talentsmart, a great website based on the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0:

EQ Moment #1:
Armando Galarraga Robbed of Perfect Game

Consider this: in the roughly 400,000 Major League Baseball games played since 1876, only 20 perfect games have been thrown. When a pitcher makes it through an entire game without allowing an opponent to reach base, it’s a feat that is guaranteed to place him in the history books. Therefore, a real tragedy befell Detroit’s Armando Galarraga in June when his perfect game evaporated before his eyes. When (what should have been) the game’s final batter was thrown out at first, umpire Jim Joyce missed the call. Everyone—including the runner, who writhed in shock—knew he was out, but instant replay in baseball is reserved for disputed home runs, spectator interference, and fair/foul calls. The call stands.

Galarraga didn’t throw a tantrum on the field, he didn’t yell and curse at umpire Jim Joyce (though Joyce cried and cursed himself violently during postgame interviews), and he didn’t bemoan the world’s injustices. Instead, Galarraga took some time to think. He accepted his disappointment and sadness for what they were (and likely still are), and realized that funneling those emotions into anger would do nothing to help the situation. Instead, Galarraga’s incredible self-awareness and emotional perspective on the situation enabled him to find a way to make things better. Galarraga realized that his young son one day would hear about and see the video of the perfect game that had been taken away from him, and he decided it was a tremendous opportunity to teach his son about demonstrating emotional intelligence. For that, Armando Galarraga tops our list in 2010.