What is Cheating

I recently read an article entitled “What is Cheating?” The article is dated August 1^st 2005, but seems to cover a relevant/significant topic with marriages and relationships. The article uses the example:

“Your wife goes out on a night on the town with her friends. While she is out she is also talking, flirting, etc with other men. Obviously, your wife knows that you will be upset about this and does not tell you. She did not have sex with these men, she did not exchange numbers, anything.”

I offer a different idea though. From my own experiences, I would point out that the term “cheating” is a relative term. It is a term that can encompass all of your thoughts or none of them; All of your feelings or none of them. A long time ago, I was in a relationship with a girl who was 100% aware of the close relationship I had with another girl from my hometown. After some time, the girl grew tired of the intimacy between my friend and I so she broke up with me. When I spoke with my mother and her married friends, they expressed to me the idea of cheating on someone emotionally. They also added that this is much worse than the physical.

A second experience I had with cheating came shortly after I had begun to believe that cheating was mental. In a nutshell, I broke down thinking that I was cheating on a girl and explained that I believed I had developed feelings for another girl. My, then, girlfriend said she was upset, but was happy I hadn’t touched her and admitted that I was developing feelings for another girl. She did not slander me, in fact we are good friends now and still hang out regularly.

Having been introduced to this idea, I pose the question “What is cheating to you?” and for those with a significant other, “Do both you and your significant other have common conception of what cheating is?” Just food for thought.