The Secret

An interesting book- The Secret- that I bought last year from Kinokuniya. I believe most of you have heard of this book, or maybe you actually owned it. At that very moment, while I was flipping through this book. It did remind me of some psychology theories. It looked interesting to me and therefore now is on my bookshelf. After studying few chapters of Human Communication. A theory that rings the bell in my mind! If you had gone through the content of The Secret, you will know that all they said are mostly about the Universe. For those who don't read it, is in fact a book that teaches you (or reminds you) to achieve your goals by mutter to yourself so many times that you could imagine it really happens. What the author explained was, when you keep repeating the same wish in your mind, your mind will connect to the Universe and finally things will happen as what you wish. Sounds creepy huh? =/ black magic, that was my first impression, LOL. Self-fulfilling prophecy would be a better theory to explain it, I presumed. Let me recall the definition of self-fulfilling prophecy. It is a prediction or expectation of oneself that makes an outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been the case. I remember that's few pages in the book writting about a girl that was desperate to get a perfect husband. One of the authors of The Secret told her to do what he/she (couldn't remember) insist. Do you know what the author tell her what to do? Instead of mutter to herself billions of time that she would like to marry a nice man; she in fact live like she already had a husband! She bought a king-size bed and slept on a side and left another side empty (pretending the 'husband' was sleeping beside her), she cleaned up her cupboard so there will be some spaces (pretending the 'husband's clothes had actually occupied the spaces) and so on. And well, of course you know the final result. She married to a man who she always meet in her dream. There are many examples given in the book. Hmm.. can't really recall most part of them.

This book is in fact a nice book that you can try, I don't mind to lend you. Because that book costs RM80! Dare not to get another one. =/

Facial Expressions

OK, we've talked alot about non-verbal communication like body language, but one particular area of the body can tell you alot about what a person is feeling or thinking. A raised eyebrow can indicate interest or confusion, a smirk could indicate amusement or the person could be scheming something...

For example, today at college, a friend a pack of cards and we played a friendly game of Black Jack (I've always wondered, why BLACK Jack? Racial prejudice??). When my friend drew another card, his face distorted to a frown and squinted eyes. This obviously meant his cards were a bust. My other friend however, when he drew a card, didn't change his facial expression at all. After drawing my cards, we revealed our hands and, as it turned out, I was right about my friend busting but my poker faced friend had a 20 with three cards while I had 19 with the same number of cards.

My point is, just the face by itself can provide a myriad of information on the unspoken words of that person. There are also various games besides Black jack that rely on watching peoples facial expressions to win. Facial expressions can tell you if that person is lying or hiding something. So the next time you're with a friend or family member, try paying attention to their facial expression and try to decipher what they may be thinking.