Have you seen a puppet move with no strings attached? Of course not! Upon the stage of life, the puppet motioned sweatlessly with so much fervor and energy. It got much more than an applause- a standing ovation. Few seconds from this joyful moment, the puppet's motion got twisted and the frenzy fizzled out.
What happened?
The puppet master was carried away by the accolades and encomiums; he moved his gaze away from the puppet.
Who is the master of your life?
The one you surrender or give your life to becomes the master of it. That is the one you look to for favours.By favour, I mean undeserved benevolence or benefit. Does the puppet really deserve the applause? Don't get it twisted; this story is about the master, the subject and the object.The subject is the puppet while the object is the benefit or favour.
Seeking cheap favours from men- your family, friends , father (spiitual) and founder of the company you work with or for, as the case may be can leave you twisted.Before I buttress how, don't get this twisted.Nothing is wrong with getting favours from folks. I enjoy favours. Hmmn, how yummy!
Faithfulness in scheduled tasks or unassigned, unsolicited assistance brings favours. It becomes cheap by the instruments employed- the mindset of the seeker ( end in mind ), the medium employed ( manipulation ) and the man's perception of the seeker ( the giver - impression).
The Mindset of The Seeker:
Haven't you heard Joyce Meyer say, 'Where the mind goes, the man follows' or read your Bible in Proverbs that out of the abundance of the heart,the mouth speaks. It is ridiculous as much as pathetic to live life expecting people to always do you favours without having to do something significant.It is worse still, believing or measuring significance in your mind as having a mouthful of tales to tell someone, more than often, higher authority about another man's helpless activities,or wrecking havoc on a national scale for global recognition.
.Imagine the younger brother of the biblical prodigal son reporting to their father about his brother's escapades just for mere cheap favoritism. This mindset has pervaded the corporate world, and it is fast becoming a workplace habit for upward mobility. It'd be discovered later that you're the voice in the masquerade's cloak, and. When it does your family,friends or team will lose trust in you.
Would you rather lose future benefit of good relationship for greater assignments for immediate gains? Think twice! Don't get your life twisted. You're headed into the drain, and you don't even see it because of previous gains you made from crooked habits.
It is pathetic to believe that making paradise or heaven is in you selling out your life as an instrument,or better put, a mere explosive envelope or bomb-bag. This mindset is very cheap vis-a-vis the worth and value tag on your life by the Creator of that life,and in relation to the sovereignty of the State you belong to or happen to be a part of.
The Medium:
There is a means that has been developed over time for getting the substance. This quickly prompts me to remember Sentence Construction and Analysis; a sentence,more than often is divided into subject, verb and object.In context, the subject is the seeker of the cheap favour,and the object is the cheap favours.The verb is the act employed to obtain from the master who gives out either by his or her own will, or otherwise. The otherwise is the means which is manipulation.
Man-Pull-A-Nation.I can't be serious! I briskly checked up the word Manipulation to buttress the discourse.
'Manipule' or the latin word,'manipulus' are the root words for manipulation meaning "handful'
Numerous instruments are used to carry out the manipulation agenda,among a few are the handful of lying,intimidation,deceit,seduction,
guilt aura .
The cheap favour seeker bubbles with joy and pride whenever he or she has a handful, or better still, a mouthful of tales to report to an authority.Reporting this comes usually with a facade before the master as being pious,honest and concerned. The subject ( favour seeker ) uses this facade for the assessment of the master ( favour giver ); he concludes the emotional status of the perceived victim,among his interests,idiocies,idealogy,dislikes and idiosyncracies.You'd be smarter than I to say,"Give to Caesar what's Caesar's."
Marriages or better generalized,beautiful relationships have been troubled and twisted by friends,family members or neighbour with evil intents who come with mouthful of terrible,untrue tales of your wife,fiance or partner.You'd be a puppet easily twisted,if you blindly jump or dive in for such manipulation. In the corporate world, this is also prevalent; supervisors, line managers and management executive should be wise about handling such people because it portends great ills or damper to productivity. More of managing such mindset will be dealt with later on Man's Perception of the Seeker.
How about a higher authority pulling the strings of a less privileged person all in the guise of philantropy. This is widespread in nation's polity across the African continent, and some countries in the Middle East; national leaders recruits a fragment of people living below the breadline, often from the minority group of that country, offer them a messianic exit from their present mess,introduce them to an alternative education option, an instrument to brainwash their victims,and this often hinges intrinsically on hate and violence,aligning with the master's visions.However such masters underplay their callous characterization, the end ceaselessly justifties the means. Time will unknot the twist, and the strings will lead to the puppet
master.
The Man's Perception of the seeker
There is an impression in the master's mind the favour seeker leaves when he shows up again. However smart the seeker paints a facade of uprightness, the giver of the favour, after a while, catches a glimpse of the content of seeker's heart.Do you know how? Talk is not enough to justify the impression; the cheap favour seeker will always eventually register his demand eventually. That confirms the impression.
Though the favour seeker may verbally or non-verbally pledge his loyalty to the master by his consistent commitment, the master will not give up a 100% trust to him because there is a measure of fear in this relationship. Fear that questions or querry the truthfulness of information delivery and the sincerity of purpose and commitment.
Remember the master gives out either by his or her own will, or by being manipulated.Often times, the master doesn't have any bad impression of the subject ( the cheap favour seeker ) if the favour was obtained through manipulation. The impression bec omes created in the mind of the master when after giving the favour willfully to the seeker,a discovery is made that reveals the seeker's manipulations.I met a guy on a street close to Ikorodu Road in Lagos some years back.He wanted me to give him some money to assist him with his transportation back home.I gave him about five times more what he requested.I was touched seeing the smile planted on his face.I think within a week I met the guy twice telling me the same story.This time I abused him; I couldn't hold back the anger.The discovery that this guy was a liar made me refuse giving him anything else. Giving him something the second time turns the manipulator vertex to me which he might not get to know immediately. My second or subsequent givings might be to get something from him. I am the master and the manipulator now.When I'm done with the guy, I discard him.
Regardless of what the master gets from the subject( favour seeker),the impression remains with the master about how cheap the seeker is.The bad news is the seeker who thought he got some favours, has been used as a puppet,and might not realize his life journey has been twisted until he's discarded like waste water.
Managing such impressions is pertinent to the productivity of your business.It won't be a bad idea if you let the tale bearer know he will have to tell his story in the presence of the accused person. This is to prevent a psychology of misjudgement around you,and to discourage further manipulations,or mouthful of tales.Hence,no puppet or no puppet's motion gets twisted.
We all are created for relationships.Connecting genuinely with others is an emotional intelligence which has a potential of reunion outside the workplace.Connecting to manipulate others in the workplace or elsewhere is not an upward mobility skill or strategy.Always remember the golden rule: Do unto others what you would want done to you.
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