Let’s first define what constitutes cheating. Is a drunken kiss cheating? A one night stand? Is a flirty text message or a promiscuous image considered cheating?
What does your relationship have to be for the person to actually have “cheated” on you? Married? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Casually dating?
There are so many different facets for what cheating is and what to feel when someone cheats on you. A good way to decide whether you are cheating is to consider whether or not your partner would consider your actions to be crossing the line. If your partner’s actions do indeed cross that line than to YOU they are cheating and that’s all that matters. It’s all a matter of opinion.
But, then there are those couples who have agreed to be in committed relationships with one another and then one of them cheats. What do you do? Especially if the relationship has existed for a lengthy amount of time. What if kids are involved? Is it necessarily the best thing to just call it quits? I don’t know, but the way I see it is that there are really only 2 outcomes that exist when your spouse cheats on you:
- The relationship is either over because you can no longer trust or respect your partner.
- You work through it.
Knowing the fact that 30%-60% of individuals who are in marriages cheat makes me wonder how many of those relationships continue or are brought to a dramatic halt. And if cheating happens this often then what do these relationships have in common? Why do people cheat in the first place? It could be because of who they are as an individual, not feeling satisfied in their current relationship, or simply taking advantage of an opportunity.
Regardless of the reason, it’s clear that you can’t truly control your spouse. You can’t stop them from cheating on you. What you can do is define the relationship you are in. Make sure what you consider cheating your spouse considers cheating as well!
