Respect, Trust and Infidelity in a Relationship

Each person lives life and experiences their sexuality as they want or need. However, when we begin a relationship it should be fully understood that we are to respect that union.

However, there are couples who agree to live their relationship in an unconventional way, but this is always agreed and the terms are clear.

Every relationship is different, so we need to share what we expect of it, what we would find desirable and what we would not tolerate.

When these are our terms of love, there is nothing to excuse infidelity, even if the love is gone. That is, if a person becomes involved with another when they have made a commitment to their partner, they are ultimately disrespecting the relationship, their partner and themselves.

This does not mean that the person they have deceived cannot forgive them, but their feelings and emotions have most likely been seriously hurt, creating a hole of insecurities that include humiliation and betrayal.

The most complicated form of infidelity is emotional

The worst infidelity is emotional deceit. In fact, it is the one that results in the most concern and is the most difficult to overcome since it involves more than just sexual contact.

However, studies have concluded that this question depends on our gender. That is, it overwhelms men more to think of sexual infidelity while women worry more about emotional cheating.

In other words, it seems that men have a harder time thinking about their partner being sexually involved with another person, while for women, it’s more troublesome to think that their partner has fallen in love with someone else or is excited by another relationship.

Regardless of whether it’s a question of simple physical infidelity or emotional, cheating or lying is a sign of disloyalty.

Betrayal creates an emotional wound in the other person. Therefore, the ideal is to reflect and appreciate the feelings that are at stake. Let’s say that, somehow, one’s freedom ends where that of the others begins. It is not responsible to justify the damage that can cause this.

Consider what you owe others: respect

As discussed, there may be partners that tolerate an open relationship, but this needs to be fully communicated upfront. It’s important to always keep communication open and discuss these issues with our partner.

There is nothing that justifies someone playing with our feelings or our confidence, but it is true that we must assess each situation in it’s context. We are beings who make mistakes and infidelity might just be one of them, but it is ultimately a betrayal of trust.

There is no magic formula to prevent infidelity from happening but, if this happens, we must be clear that “there is life beyond betrayal” and that it may not be an unsolvable situation.

The most important thing to recognize is that we must love ourselves and be aware of our feelings and emotions. Only then can we thrive as part of a couple.