When someone comes along trying to manipulate me, I’m usually surprised at how they try to prey on my good qualities. (I otherwise would figure they’re mad at me for not already being aligned with their interests and therefore they’d genuinely view me as bad.)
However for a manipulator to have any skill whatsoever, they do need to ideally start with a good gullible person (I used to not recognize malice when it was STARING at me in the face. My psychopathic parents trained me that it was “bad” to recognize and acknowledge their obvious dark ways.)
It’s as if manipulators know that I value being good and usually the manipulation twists me into becomimg the “bad guy” (in their fake scenario).
My only resource left (in their fake scenario) to get to be the “good guy” is to give in to their manipulative ploy. Once I recognize this maneuver, no matter how much I genuinely like the person, I lose most respect for them. People are what they are and I no longer really attempt to make excuses for them or to fix them or bridge the gap. None of these things ever worked before so I figure that people need to work on themselves if they’re going to move forward. We really are kind of on our own emotionally.
I go on about Napoleon for the reason (amongst others) that he was a good person who stood up for himself. I’m showing you through the Napoleon Series that Napoleon was a huge softie. Yet he stood up to evil. This is the balance that I admire in him. He was sensitive but strong.
