The Deception of Life

Life is full of ups and downs, trials and jubilations, sadness and joy…We could go on and on about the different contrasts of our lives which can lead us on a roller coaster of emotions sometimes, but what happens when things are going great and all of a sudden, tragedy hits? We may feel that life has deceived us into a false sense of security; then reality hits and it may make us question was the good our reality to begin with. This could be a variant of life occurrences, but most of the time with Life-Deception, it is a case when we are on the top of our game and then, in an instant, it all comes tumbling down. It makes us question everything and every step we take afterwards to try to put the deception in our distant memory.

Case and point….I had a life changing Life-Deception moment. Most of you know that I am a published author, which is a great achievement and I was proud and thanked God for that moment that I was blessed with. I was traveling to different cities promoting my book and people, that ordered it and read it, were telling me how great it was and when was the sequel coming out? I was excited about this new journey that my life was on and I was doing something that I loved doing. Then, the beginning of 2017, the CEO’s of the 20 year publishing company that picked my book up, were indicted on numerous charges and the authors and musicians that were signed with their company were now in a position of, “What in the world is going on?” Personally, I questioned everything and stopped writing because that part of my life was on hold. I could not sell my book except for the personal copies that I had, I purchased a big book order that I never got, the monetary investment along with the physical and emotional investment left me broken and depleted. I felt life had deceived me. Was I the author that people were saying that I was? Was this life, that I was thankful for, only a dream? Were the different appearances and signings just a facade? Was I good enough to even think that this was possible for me? I eventually moved on with life, but not with writing. I did not know what to do so I did nothing, trusted no one with my work, and questioned everything about myself as an author and my ability to write. I felt deceived by this company and the setup that life had lured me into. Everything from filing papers with the Attorney General of Arkansas to coming to the realization that I probably will never see a fraction, if any, of the money back that I invested was draining mentally and had me angry and unable to move, but what I had to realize that I was letting these people determine my worth as an author and as a person who has passion for what I do. I have to trust people because we cannot go through this journey called life alone, but I can do my ‘due diligence’ and research and investigate just like I do for anything else. I had to climb up out of that pit and get moving. The situation did not determine my worth, but my actions did.

You may have come to a moment that you have to face your Life-Deception, but how will you handle it? Each person will address this moment differently based on how they deal with situations in general. Will it rock you? Will it throw you off your game? Will it make you evaluate? Will it cause you to mistrust? Will it be a combination of some or all these things? Or will you be resilient and make a stand for yourself? It took me some months; just recently to be exact, to get back on track and to write; to do that thing that I love so dearly, but that too is determined by how you respond to your Life-Deception, but whatever you do, do not let it pull you into a pit that you cannot climb out of. We still have to be thankful regardless of our situations and life paths so trust God and the plans that He has for your life and your Life-Deception will only be a detour in your journey that you will either learn and grow from or it will pull you under. Choose ye this day life instead of death. Rise above your circumstances and Live.