If you are easily offended or angered, then you are easily manipulated. And as we are all too familiar with, one of the most vexing things to happen to a person is to know for a fact that they have been manipulated. Those who became aware of how they were manipulated often became jaded, closed-off, and distrusting after the fact. And can you really blame them? Most likely, they have been lied to or defrauded. At some point, that made them feel stupid, at the very least.

Even for you, there is a high chance that you have experienced a certain degree of manipulation from other people. It might be pressure from friends and/or family; it might be in the form of criticizing you, or maybe gaslighting. And the most common of it all, you have been lied to at least once.

Ok now, take your time to recall that one time somebody lied to you.

Still makes you feel like crap, doesn't it?

Most likely by now, you are probably thinking about the message I am trying to send with this prose. The point is that stoic indifference is one of the most effective things to learn in order to better prepare yourself on how to handle manipulative people (those who are currently in your life and in the future).

To begin, let us first define what it is. Stoic indifference is a mindset and a skill where one is "good either way". It is where you can accept what happens in life and make a good sense of it all the same; to make the best out of the cards that you are dealt because you are strong and disciplined enough. Consequently, having learned how to be indifferent tends to make others see you as somebody who has no empathy and simply just does not care about anything.

So how do you learn or acquire such a skill? If you have read my previous entries, you'd probably hypothesize that it is after you have fully prepared for the path to development. And you would be correct if you did so.

By the time that you have acquired physical fitness, improved mental preparedness, and attained emotional balance, you will most certainly find yourself not easily infuriated. And yes, at this point, you will have become a person who is not so easily manipulated. Have fun.