manipulation

manipulate - (L) manus: a hand + plere: to fill
To handle skillfully - to manage artfully or shrewdly, often in an unfair way - to falsify (figures, etc.) for one's own purposes.

I have often used the word, heard the word, practiced the word. It's amazing to me how quick I am to assume someone is trying to manipulate ME, when in fact I use the same tactics. In reflecting on this definition and seeing how the action penetrates my life, I have to stand back and see why I do what I do, how it serves me, and why I continue to use it as a tool if it's not serving my life anymore.

I know I learned this behavior. Many people in my family use manipulation as a means of being sneaky about getting what they want. I am not even sure that most of them realize what they are doing - it's simply innate. I want a Self Change. I do not wish to have this automatic response when others have their own Truth that is outside the realm of what I think is "right." My "right" is invariably no ones, just as theirs is not mine. I seek to bring more of what serves my life into my Self discovery, and allow others the same ability.

Today, as I seek to more away from manipulation as a means to get what I want, I will listen for what others desire, follow my own Self, and allow us both to be within our own means!

Abraham Lincoln said:
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.

Blessings