Everyone manipulates. We're taught this at a very young age. Do onto others as you want others to do onto you, treat others as you want to be treated, be kind and be rewarded in kindness, etc
All of that is manipulative
I think there are maybe two kinds of being maniipulative- one is being deliberately manipulative, which I avoid (myabe to my detriment when others around me are manipulative), and being accidentally manipulative by simply pursuing my own self-interest and then things like this can happen accidentally sometimes- I think this is true of most people, though for a very mentally self-disciplned person maybe they don't make mistakes like this.
Have you ever told someone they look good or they have nice shoes but in reality, they did not look good or their shoes were ugly?
A white lie is manipulation. It's manipulating so not to hurt the other persons feelings, usually, or to avoid a deeper conversation, sometimes.
That's how I interpreted the OP's question. I try to manipulate myself all the time by telling me that I'm OK and it will all work out.