If you live as a puppet of your lowest instincts, then anyone who learns how to provoke those instincts can control you. Anger, greed, jealousy, lust, pride, and fear are the strings. Whoever pulls them makes you move.

In today’s world, this truth is more visible than ever. Social media and clever algorithms study your habits, likes, and reactions. They reduce you to patterns of behavior, just numbers and data points. Once they know what triggers you, it becomes easy to push your buttons. At that point, when someone says the right word or shows the right image, you react automatically. They know exactly what the button does, and you start to dance like a puppet.

The philosopher Marcus Aurelius once said, “It’s time you realize that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet.” His words remind us that there is always a choice. You can learn to pause, breathe, and respond with clarity instead of reacting blindly.

Carl Jung put it another way: “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” This means that unless you become aware of your triggers, they will rule over you. You might think life is just happening to you, when in reality you are being pulled by hidden strings.

The first step is control. Control of your emotions, your reactions, and your inner world. This does not mean suppressing feelings. It means noticing them, understanding them, and choosing wisely instead of letting instincts choose for you.

Base instincts are the easiest to manipulate because they are the simplest. That is why those who live only by them remain slaves to others. But those who rise above them become free.

Do not let others pull your strings. Cut the cords, take back control, and choose to live as a human being with awareness, not as a puppet on display.