And This Is Life

Author: Jim Stitzel

I dabble a little in a lot of things — writing, webcomics, gaming, photography, web design, music, and more. I write code full-time and words in the gaps in between.

I have suffered brutal betrayals these past months, betrayals no one should have to endure. I have wept and bled and fought and clung to life by any excuse I have been able to find.

I have endured betrayals of the mind and body. Depression. Anxiety. Paranoia. Physical illness. Declining health. Radical changes in medications.

I have endured betrayals of life. A hospitalization. A failed marriage. A lost job. A loss of home and sense of place in the world. My world has been shattered around me, both by those I trusted most and by my own sudden fragility.

I have endured betrayals of faith. A betrayal of a God that for so long I wasn't even sure I believed in. A failure of my church to come to my aid when I needed it most. A betrayal of Scripture to provide even the faintest comfort in the midst of the most difficult hardship I've ever faced.

These betrayals continue, even as I pick up the pieces of my broken life. I look for hope, see it glimmer in the distance, and know that I still have far, far to go.

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Comments (4 so far!)

Average reader rating 5.00/5

slapdashmonuments

I would like to offer support, especially as this is not fiction according to the tags, and because so much of it is made up of my burdens too.

#2291 Posted 8 years ago
0
5 out of 5

Jim Stitzel

I appreciate the support. This past year has been one of the hardest of my life, and I've made it through only because of the support of some very good, very close friends and family. I think this is actually the first piece of purely non-fiction I've ever written, either here or on Ficly, but it fit the theme of the challenge perfectly, and so here it is.

#2295 Posted 8 years ago
0

ElshaHawk LoA

Hope can be elusive, but it teases us and makes us chase it. It is coy and attractive, and when you catch it, so addictive you never want to let it go. Hope does not mean happiness, though. That's why people sometimes lose it. They forget to hold onto hope when times are just mediocre. They curse themselves and abandon hope as they sink away from happiness, confusing the two. This piece ends in hope, but I think the beginning is a reminder and warning and just as important as the end. You can't have all the colors of the rainbow without black and white.

#2302 Posted 8 years ago
0

Robert Quick

Well thank God for those friends! Honestly, I'm not sure I'd have the strength to not despair in the face of such pain. This is a relate-able story and it reads almost as an anthem. I know that this is non-fiction but it would make such a colorful and powerful background to a character.

#2350 Posted 8 years ago
0

Story challenge:

Betrayal. It's sharpness stings. You know that feeling of violation, and it is violating to have a secret become public. It's like someone pulling off a bandaid to reveal one of your fears, one that you thought was safe. It feels shameful. Sometimes it is…

Betrayal but not by a person by Robert Quick

Published 8 years ago.
Story viewed 24 times and rated 1 times.

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