Dear Daughters And Sons - When It's Okay To Cheat On Your Significant Other

I have been both a cheater and the cheated on, I cheated with a guy who looked just like Sting, he spent 6 months slowly seducing me and OMG he was gorgeous, he was also a cross dressing bisexual junkie but he was gorgeous. And I have also been cheated on, my partner did it with a woman that was 10 years older than me which somehow made me feel even worse because I couldn’t even complain that he was going for the stereotypical younger model. To be fair to me it was the 80's which was pretending to be the 70's which was pretending to still be the 60's and full of free love and daisies. Here is when it’s okay to cheat on your partner/wife/husband – WHEN YOU WANT A DIVORCE. And probably even then there are better ways to go about splitting up. Here is what I have learnt about cheating both as a cheater and the cheated on. Cheating isn’t the cause of a break up – it’s the symptom of deeper underlying problems. When everything is okay the most gorgeous Other can come along and try to seduce you or your mate with their Alexander Skarsgard or Christina Hendricks sparkle and any happy couple will immediately close ranks and protect what they have against the intruder. When I cheated - I desperately wanted out of the relationship and with three little kids, no money of my own and even less sense or maturity I had no practical idea of how to go about doing it. So I forced the situation with an absolutely ludicrous but luscious affair – oh my god was he hot. When I was cheated on I really didn’t care that my partner was having sex with someone else because the relationship and the sex was pretty crap but I did care that he was betraying my secrets to her and that he was lying to me ALOT, it really made me feel insignificant and worthless. Cheating hurts the cheated on and the cheated with. Because your partner always knows in their gut that you are cheating on them and the other person always thinks you are going to leave and set up a nest with them when really they are just a symptom or a transit vehicle. You can justify the cheating anyway you want – but it still hurts someone. Do I regret the affair – nope I don’t – he really did look like Sting or Axl Rose or that dude from Cheap Trick and he was one of the kindest men I have ever known. But I do regret the cheating. It really destroyed the person I cheated on (who just so happened to also be cheating on me). If you are feeling seduced into cheating your mate - my advice is close ranks or split up instead. Of course there are always exceptions to every rule. This is true – I had two close friends who had been together since they were 14. He started to realise that she was being seduced by someone at work and that he might lose his childhood sweetheart. He figured that as they'd been together since 14, and she'd never been with anyone else she was probably bored or wanting to experiment. So he quit his job, bought two round the world tickets and surprised her with them. Off they went and by the time they got back she had forgotten all about the other guy. It's thirty years later and they are still very happy together.