Cheating is when someone does or plans to do something that isn’t right in a relationship or marriage where there is a set or implied order.
Many people think it’s just penetrative sex, but it’s more than that.
It starts with the desire to cross a moral line in a relationship or union that is already in place.
So, if you feel like you have to hide a chat or delete a message from your mate because it’s wrong, you’re already cheating.
“But we’re not going to have sex.”
Yes, you can cheat even if you’re not having sex. Here are the most common ones:
Cheating with your body: This involves touching someone. (even if you are just stroking hair or holding hands). The most important thing is the touch and whether or not it’s okay. Cheating isn’t always done on purpose. Often, people do it without even realizing it. Unfortunately, they would fool themselves into thinking nothing was going on until they had sex and woke up to the truth. For others, they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do and go all out to get it, which often means lies, secrets, stress, and spending more than usual.
Emotional cheating: I think this kind of cheating goes deeper and is often the most damaging. It may or may not start with actual touch, but if you give it enough time, it will. Many people fall into this without even understanding it, and then it’s hard to get out.
It could be that we want to keep going back to a conversation because we think it’s smart or good for us, but then it goes off track and becomes wrong. This is something that spouses often notice, but it’s easy to deny or explain. It’s the “friendship” you feel like no one gets.
Microcheating is anything wrong that falls between physical cheating and mental cheating. This can include things like flirting, sharing inappropriate material, sex chats, masturbating in front of someone else, and so on.
Most of the time, you may already be cheating if you do something that goes against the rules. Even though you may have to hide a lot, you can be open about it and lie about what happened so you can talk about it. Deep down, you’d still know what you’re doing.
