People often say, "You deceived me." But what does that really mean? Is deception something others do to us, or something we do to ourselves?
Deception is a loaded word. It implies that someone has intentionally misled us. But in reality, no one can truly deceive us unless we allow ourselves to be deceived. At its core, deception is often rooted in expectation — we trust someone, we believe something will happen in a certain way, and when it doesn't, we feel betrayed. But was it really deception, or was it our own misplaced belief?
People are unpredictable. They are dynamic, constantly shifting in mood, intention, and behavior. Even they don't always know how they will act tomorrow. So how can we expect them to behave exactly as we wish?
Instead of saying "You deceived me," perhaps we should say, "I was wrong to assume things would go as I imagined." It's not about blame; it's about taking responsibility for our expectations. Trusting someone is a risk — one we choose to take. If things don't turn out as we hoped, it's not necessarily deception; it's the unpredictability of human nature.
In the end, the only real deception is self-deception — believing that life or people will always align with our hopes, assumptions, or plans.
