In my early teens, cheating would mean “the end” of my fairytale romance. It was even considered as a sin amongst my peers and a person who cheated should be rightfully persecuted, along with the 3rd party involved. In my 20’s, cheating got a whole new meaning. It became a reason for me to break the trust and commit infidelity myself, just to get even with a partner. In my 30’s, I was wishing for the partner to commit them just to add some spice to a boring relationship or to end a miserable one. 40’s was when cheating became infidelity and indeed, a scary topic for wives as it would mean getting left behind without child support, no means to live and a two-year old in tow. While 50’s would be the decade when you finally accept that in a relationship, you are bound to get cheated, one way or another—and accept the situation with an ample sigh of resignation. After all, life goes on right? It’s just one of them bumps on the road. Arriving 60’s and beyond, this is the time when you chuckle in amazement and just leave the door open for the partner to come home either sick or dead. No matter how you look into things or how great your outlook in life, we must admit, infidelity still hurts and it molds us to what we are and what we will become. Unintentionally, it will also affect the way we connect with other people making us weary and less trusting.
Indeed, it is hard to accept infidelity, even with us seniors. When you commit infidelity, trust is put in question. Getting over infidelity is even considered as one of the most difficult things you have to go through in life. Also, when infidelity occurs, the damage is almost always directed both ways; the offending party seeking forgiveness while the offended one seeks answers as to why infidelity happened at all, often blaming themselves for their partner’s act. This is true for most long-standing relationships in which trust was already established but got broken unexpectedly.
If you find yourself stuck in a situation like this, do know that you have several choices to choose from. You can either walk away from the relationship or just accept things as they come. What matters most is that you move on from this situation with your self-respect in one piece. Never make hasty decisions, instead, find a calm place wherein you can sort things out and be able to arrive in a more acceptable judgment of the situation. While it is so easy for seniors to just drop the relationship since there will be not much to consider, do remember that some relationships deserve second chances.