Fashionvictim
Shiny_Rock
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2006
- Messages
- 223
INCREDIBLY well said, TG.Date: 1/16/2007 5:45:43 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Cheating is controllable. It is a conscious decision...and if you are not in a conscious place and you cheat, you chose to put yourself in a very precarious position.
This may sound very pessimistic and cynical, but I live my life as if I *could* cheat on my husband. Now, I really don''t THINK I could, but it''s those ''uncontrollable'' situations I worry about. So I am proactive and pre-emptive.
I do not go on business trips and party hard with a bunch of people because you never know what may happen...I do not get drunk when my husband is not around. I do not make any more male friends (I don''t need them anyway because TGuy is my best friend.) I especially never confide any marital discord to another guy. Intimacy can spark by the strangest things, and once it sparks, it can rage before you know it.
So true Alj!! I couldnt agree more!! I grew up in a house with an unfaithful father and I always vowed that no man would ever be allowed to trample on my the way my father did my mother. If my fiancee cheated he knows he might as well come home and start packing because I will never be embarassed and broken that way. Cheating is like breaking a vase you can glue it back but It wont ever be the same vase it was.Date: 1/16/2007 10:35:42 PM
Author: aljdewey
INCREDIBLY well said, TG.Date: 1/16/2007 5:45:43 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Cheating is controllable. It is a conscious decision...and if you are not in a conscious place and you cheat, you chose to put yourself in a very precarious position.
This may sound very pessimistic and cynical, but I live my life as if I *could* cheat on my husband. Now, I really don''t THINK I could, but it''s those ''uncontrollable'' situations I worry about. So I am proactive and pre-emptive.
I do not go on business trips and party hard with a bunch of people because you never know what may happen...I do not get drunk when my husband is not around. I do not make any more male friends (I don''t need them anyway because TGuy is my best friend.) I especially never confide any marital discord to another guy. Intimacy can spark by the strangest things, and once it sparks, it can rage before you know it.
Cheating isn''t often something that just ''happens'' - spur of the moment, find yourself SUDDENLY in a situation where you don''t think for a minute. Nope, that''s not usually it......
Like most destinations, there are some signs and markers along the roadway. There is smoke long before there is fire.
If you don''t want fire, then don''t collect firewood. Don''t collect brush. Don''t stack the pile. Don''t strike the match.
You cannot do all of those things, then say ''ooops, I didn''t know I would start a fire.....I made a split second mistake and dropped the match.'' If you hadn''t been hanging out among all that dry wood, stacking it into a pile, and playing with matches, it''s unlikely the opportunity for one to ''accidentally'' start would have presented itself.
I agree wholeheartedly with what both of you said. Great analogy Alj!! There are SO many steps that are taken before one gets into a precarious position, and it is actually easier to avoid these situations than it may seem.Date: 1/16/2007 10:35:42 PM
Author: aljdewey
INCREDIBLY well said, TG.Date: 1/16/2007 5:45:43 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Cheating is controllable. It is a conscious decision...and if you are not in a conscious place and you cheat, you chose to put yourself in a very precarious position.
This may sound very pessimistic and cynical, but I live my life as if I *could* cheat on my husband. Now, I really don''t THINK I could, but it''s those ''uncontrollable'' situations I worry about. So I am proactive and pre-emptive.
I do not go on business trips and party hard with a bunch of people because you never know what may happen...I do not get drunk when my husband is not around. I do not make any more male friends (I don''t need them anyway because TGuy is my best friend.) I especially never confide any marital discord to another guy. Intimacy can spark by the strangest things, and once it sparks, it can rage before you know it.
Cheating isn''t often something that just ''happens'' - spur of the moment, find yourself SUDDENLY in a situation where you don''t think for a minute. Nope, that''s not usually it......
Like most destinations, there are some signs and markers along the roadway. There is smoke long before there is fire.
If you don''t want fire, then don''t collect firewood. Don''t collect brush. Don''t stack the pile. Don''t strike the match.
You cannot do all of those things, then say ''ooops, I didn''t know I would start a fire.....I made a split second mistake and dropped the match.'' If you hadn''t been hanging out among all that dry wood, stacking it into a pile, and playing with matches, it''s unlikely the opportunity for one to ''accidentally'' start would have presented itself.
Date: 1/16/2007 10:17:47 PM
Author: Fashionvictim
My fiance and I have such a strong bond, if he ever cheated I would never speak to him again.
I disagree I think the fact that he would rather run off with some stranger is "so young" It is a mature and serious decision to commit yourself to someone by not honoring that I would see him as being "young" as you say.Date: 1/16/2007 11:08:13 PM
Author: decodelighted
Date: 1/16/2007 10:17:47 PM
Author: Fashionvictim
My fiance and I have such a strong bond, if he ever cheated I would never speak to him again.
Whoa ... talk about contradiction ... if you have such a ''strong bond'' ... how could it be broken so easily? And so dramatically ... not SPEAKING ever again?? Even to discuss??
This kind of reactionary black & white stuff is so ... so ... young? (yeah yeah IMHO - whatever)
lol deco STOP IT. stop speaking REASON. you silly girl.Date: 1/16/2007 11:08:13 PM
Author: decodelighted
Date: 1/16/2007 10:17:47 PM
Author: Fashionvictim
My fiance and I have such a strong bond, if he ever cheated I would never speak to him again.
Whoa ... talk about contradiction ... if you have such a 'strong bond' ... how could it be broken so easily? And so dramatically ... not SPEAKING ever again?? Even to discuss??
This kind of reactionary black & white stuff is so ... so ... young? (yeah yeah IMHO - whatever)
It's not a he's right & she's wrong .. or she's wrong & he's right scenario. OBVIOUSLY cheating is "wrong". But c'mon .. not SPEAKING to someone ever again??? That's something foot-stomping, ponytail swishing high school girls do ...COMPLETELY not realistic in a real adult world situation. I.e. -- you can't "not speak to" your BOSS or your PROFESSOR or - um - your LIFE PARTNER. You might decide to leave, it might be the end of the relationship ... but the idea of swishing & stomping away wordlessly ???Date: 1/16/2007 11:13:37 PM
Author: Officers girl
I disagree I think the fact that he would rather run off with some stranger is 'so young'Date: 1/16/2007 11:08:13 PM
Author: decodelighted
Date: 1/16/2007 10:17:47 PM
Author: Fashionvictim
My fiance and I have such a strong bond, if he ever cheated I would never speak to him again.
not SPEAKING ever again?? Even to discuss??
People stop speaking to people everyday I didnt have contact with my family for over two years!! I resent the fact that you would view me as "young" for the simple fact I had to save myself from being hurt over and over again. Now Im really not sure as to if the OP was saying that she would like actually wordlessly send him away or if there would be tons of conflict followed by a decision to stop speaking to him. The latter I dont see as a lack of maturity but the first one of course would be a bad choice to make becuase it offers her no resoulution. But again I dont really know the point the OP was trying to make. Only I dont think that cutting someone out of your life is a decision marked by youth but often is much more thought out than that.Date: 1/16/2007 11:50:10 PM
Author: decodelighted
It''s not a he''s right & she''s wrong .. or she''s wrong & he''s right scenario. OBVIOUSLY cheating is ''wrong''. But c''mon .. not SPEAKING to someone ever again??? That''s something foot-stomping, ponytail swishing high school girls do ...COMPLETELY not realistic in a real adult world situation. I.e. -- you can''t ''not speak to'' your BOSS or your PROFESSOR or - um - your LIFE PARTNER. You might decide to leave, it might be the end of the relationship ... but the idea of swishing & stomping away wordlessly ???Date: 1/16/2007 11:13:37 PM
Author: Officers girl
I disagree I think the fact that he would rather run off with some stranger is ''so young''Date: 1/16/2007 11:08:13 PM
Author: decodelighted
Date: 1/16/2007 10:17:47 PM
Author: Fashionvictim
My fiance and I have such a strong bond, if he ever cheated I would never speak to him again.
not SPEAKING ever again?? Even to discuss??
Date: 1/16/2007 11:57:48 PM
Author: Mara
actually ebree greg and i were talking about this tonite.
if he had cheated on me when we were engaged, i probably would have ended it. because who honestly wants to start a marriage like that? with that kind of drama? you aren''t even married and already you''ve got big issues. totall not for me. and you are in the clear, an engagement is way easier to get out of than a marriage. especially with no kids.
but once you get married...FOR ME personally...there''s a certain committment mentally. it''s like you say okay i''m taking you with all your positives and potential negatives and i can deal. it''s not about the hassle of a divorce, it''s that you both made a committment, for better or worse, and if you both are willing to work at it and see if you can both get past it, fabulous. i think that it''s worth it. i think that people are in general too black and white these days and they don''t give enough mentally to the thought of FOREVER with someone, FOR BETTER OR WORSE. sometimes i honestly think that if people were not allowed to divorce and HAD to work at things, the world might be better off.
i mean who really knows....this is all just speculation. but i like to think that if the situation was there and the circumstances were right for us to work on it...we''d give it our absolute all to try to fix whatever was wrong before just throwing in the towel and huffing off.
oh and my comment to deco wasn''t about being young..it was the ''strong bond'' and easily broken kind of thing. extremes i don''t agree with. just me!!
I hear ya ... and I think IF & WHEN something like that happens, everyone has a right to deal with it however their experiences & values & situation & opinions *at the time* dictate.Date: 1/16/2007 11:51:53 PM
Author: EBree
I don''t think the situation being black and white is as much to do with age as it is a personal choice. Some people have experienced the pain of betrayal and don''t choose to experience it again. And it doesn''t mean that person''s choice (or prediction) is ''young''.
LOL at the AI I echo that first sentence tottally!! Cheating is such a personal thing to go through I would never look down on someone because of how they dealt with it because I think how you deal with it has so much to do with personality and circumstance more than anything, besides its way to hard to predict a reaction to anything!!Date: 1/17/2007 12:03:25 AM
Author: decodelighted
I hear ya ... and I think IF & WHEN something like that happens, everyone has a right to deal with it however their experiences & values & situation & opinions *at the time* dictate.Date: 1/16/2007 11:51:53 PM
Author: EBree
I don''t think the situation being black and white is as much to do with age as it is a personal choice. Some people have experienced the pain of betrayal and don''t choose to experience it again. And it doesn''t mean that person''s choice (or prediction) is ''young''.
I still think it''s hard to predict what life has in store & how your own ''take on stuff'' changes *dramatically* over time. And the idea that ideas/perceptions/values even WON''T change over time strikes me as a little *young* because it reveals that the person hasn''t experienced *that* yet. Now some folks are intractable! Some folks DON''T change over time ... so I''m not saying it''s a 100% accurate way to tell who is chronologically challenged (HA!-- that''s a joke I swear!) and who among us is starting to look more like the PARENTS of American Idol contestants*raises hand in horror*.
I consider myself as pretty pragmatic "shades of gray" kinda gal. However, I consider cheating abuse. An abuse of my trust, respect and love. Not to mention risking bringing home some disease. I can't imagine anything else where I would feel so emotionally beaten up than for the person I love most in this world to rip my heart out. I would probably feel physically beaten up too, as I can't imagine I'd do too well after learning something like that.Date: 1/16/2007 11:57:48 PM
Author: Mara
but once you get married...FOR ME personally...there's a certain committment mentally. it's like you say okay i'm taking you with all your positives and potential negatives and i can deal. it's not about the hassle of a divorce, it's that you both made a committment, for better or worse, and if you both are willing to work at it and see if you can both get past it, fabulous. i think that it's worth it. i think that people are in general too black and white these days and they don't give enough mentally to the thought of FOREVER with someone, FOR BETTER OR WORSE regardless of what the for better or worse is. there's sickness and health as a separate line. so what's the 'worse'? sometimes i honestly think that if people were not allowed to divorce (barring abuse or something) and actually were forced to work at fixing things, the world might be better off.
Aww man TG does this mean you are not up for any sort of menage?Date: 1/17/2007 1:45:15 AM
Author: TravelingGal
Marriage, and the vows that go along with it are for two, not three.
Only if you''re paying.Date: 1/17/2007 2:03:49 AM
Author: Mara
Aww man TG does this mean you are not up for any sort of menage?Date: 1/17/2007 1:45:15 AM
Author: TravelingGal
Marriage, and the vows that go along with it are for two, not three.With a little FL thrown in?
Thritto as Mara and Kimberley would say - Kristy said it all perfectly.Date: 1/16/2007 5:09:19 PM
Author: ellaila
Amen!! And even if we had a family, I think I'd still feel the same way -- maybe even more so actually because I would feel like he betrayed not just me but ALL of us. I don't think 'for better or worse' applies to cheating. To me, 'for better or for worse' is dealing with the ups and downs that life throws at you that you can't control. Cheating is controllable - it is intentional. And it is definitely a dealbreaker for me.Date: 1/16/2007 4:23:42 PM
Author: KristyDarling
Well, call me an unforgiving wench but it's still a dealbreaker for me. If he doesn't love and respect me enough to keep it in his pants, then that means there is something very wrong with the relationship. I suppose I *might* consider a reconciliation with the help of a marriage counselor, especially since we have kids and I'd really want to keep the family together if at all possible...but knowing the way I am, the damage done might be too great for me to ever fully recover from the hurt. Trust has flown out the window. For me, any extramarital sex -- regardless of how emotionally meaningless it might've been -- is a deliberate act and not a 'momentary insanity' kind of mistake. That part of our relationship is so precious to me that I could never stomach the idea of him sharing that with someone else, even if he said it didn't mean anything. It would shatter my heart to pieces.
This is making me sad to even think about!
Date: 1/16/2007 8:17:28 PM
Author: poptart
I think you hit the nail on the head there Ally. That''s why I think it''s important to trust but not be stupid. If two and two don''t add up then something is wrong. But you are right, you never really DO know. You just have to hope that your trust is well placed.Date: 1/16/2007 8:14:14 PM
Author: allycat0303
bee*: Well I think there''s two type of people a) those that ignore the blatant signs and stick their heads in the sand
b) those that trust and are totally surprised
I don''t think that the people being cheated on are comprised solely of group A, so there has to be many people in the relationship that are trust and their trust is being misplaced. I hope I''m not one of them, but you never REALLY know do you? Because if you trust then you aren''t looking.
As for once a cheater always a cheater. I think yes. I wouldn''t date I guy that admitted he had cheated. It shows lack of respect right away for the person he was with.
*M*
So on the same page as you. It is the ultimate betrayal.Date: 1/17/2007 1:45:15 AM
Author: TravelingGal
I consider myself as pretty pragmatic ''shades of gray'' kinda gal. However, I consider cheating abuse. An abuse of my trust, respect and love. Not to mention risking bringing home some disease. I can''t imagine anything else where I would feel so emotionally beaten up than for the person I love most in this world to rip my heart out. I would probably feel physically beaten up too, as I can''t imagine I''d do too well after learning something like that.Date: 1/16/2007 11:57:48 PM
Author: Mara
but once you get married...FOR ME personally...there''s a certain committment mentally. it''s like you say okay i''m taking you with all your positives and potential negatives and i can deal. it''s not about the hassle of a divorce, it''s that you both made a committment, for better or worse, and if you both are willing to work at it and see if you can both get past it, fabulous. i think that it''s worth it. i think that people are in general too black and white these days and they don''t give enough mentally to the thought of FOREVER with someone, FOR BETTER OR WORSE regardless of what the for better or worse is. there''s sickness and health as a separate line. so what''s the ''worse''? sometimes i honestly think that if people were not allowed to divorce (barring abuse or something) and actually were forced to work at fixing things, the world might be better off.
I fully agree there are so many different scenarios, you really can''t apply a one stop solution to it all. I may be more forgiving if he came clean vs hiding it, as another poster mentioned.
I think more than anyone I know, I gave serious thought to what ''better or worse'' meant. It was the heart and soul of what I said to TGuy on our wedding day. We''ll definitely go through better and worse and go through it together, but we both discussed before we got married that if someone cheats, that''s it. If he were to cheat on me, it would seem that he''s brought someone else into our union, and that negates a lot for me. Marriage, and the vows that go along with it are for two, not three.
The ''dark gray'' that I''m in allows me to reserve the right to change my mind...as I agree that as we get older, views may shift.
Very, very true.Date: 1/16/2007 10:35:42 PM
Author: aljdewey
INCREDIBLY well said, TG.Date: 1/16/2007 5:45:43 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Cheating is controllable. It is a conscious decision...and if you are not in a conscious place and you cheat, you chose to put yourself in a very precarious position.
This may sound very pessimistic and cynical, but I live my life as if I *could* cheat on my husband. Now, I really don''t THINK I could, but it''s those ''uncontrollable'' situations I worry about. So I am proactive and pre-emptive.
I do not go on business trips and party hard with a bunch of people because you never know what may happen...I do not get drunk when my husband is not around. I do not make any more male friends (I don''t need them anyway because TGuy is my best friend.) I especially never confide any marital discord to another guy. Intimacy can spark by the strangest things, and once it sparks, it can rage before you know it.
Cheating isn''t often something that just ''happens'' - spur of the moment, find yourself SUDDENLY in a situation where you don''t think for a minute. Nope, that''s not usually it......
Like most destinations, there are some signs and markers along the roadway. There is smoke long before there is fire.
If you don''t want fire, then don''t collect firewood. Don''t collect brush. Don''t stack the pile. Don''t strike the match.
You cannot do all of those things, then say ''ooops, I didn''t know I would start a fire.....I made a split second mistake and dropped the match.'' If you hadn''t been hanging out among all that dry wood, stacking it into a pile, and playing with matches, it''s unlikely the opportunity for one to ''accidentally'' start would have presented itself.
ditto.Date: 1/17/2007 10:43:57 AM
Author: Hopes
Very, very true.Date: 1/16/2007 10:35:42 PM
Author: aljdewey
INCREDIBLY well said, TG.Date: 1/16/2007 5:45:43 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Cheating is controllable. It is a conscious decision...and if you are not in a conscious place and you cheat, you chose to put yourself in a very precarious position.
This may sound very pessimistic and cynical, but I live my life as if I *could* cheat on my husband. Now, I really don''t THINK I could, but it''s those ''uncontrollable'' situations I worry about. So I am proactive and pre-emptive.
I do not go on business trips and party hard with a bunch of people because you never know what may happen...I do not get drunk when my husband is not around. I do not make any more male friends (I don''t need them anyway because TGuy is my best friend.) I especially never confide any marital discord to another guy. Intimacy can spark by the strangest things, and once it sparks, it can rage before you know it.
Cheating isn''t often something that just ''happens'' - spur of the moment, find yourself SUDDENLY in a situation where you don''t think for a minute. Nope, that''s not usually it......
Like most destinations, there are some signs and markers along the roadway. There is smoke long before there is fire.
If you don''t want fire, then don''t collect firewood. Don''t collect brush. Don''t stack the pile. Don''t strike the match.
You cannot do all of those things, then say ''ooops, I didn''t know I would start a fire.....I made a split second mistake and dropped the match.'' If you hadn''t been hanging out among all that dry wood, stacking it into a pile, and playing with matches, it''s unlikely the opportunity for one to ''accidentally'' start would have presented itself.
As I said on another page, I don't even remember if we said the forsaking all others...I piecemealed our vows from a bunch of different vows. You can make any element a standalone when it's YOUR marriage vows. There are no rules.Date: 1/17/2007 11:30:17 AM
Author: aljdewey
I find it really curious that some are pointing to the 'for better or worse' piece, because that commitment is made as part of one's vows......yanno, the same vows that said you'd be faithful, too (or forsake all others)?
How can you weight more importance to the 'better or worse' if you aren't going to weight equal importance to the vow of faithfulness?
These elements aren't stand-alones....they are a set.
I take you to be my wife (or husband)....
In sickness and in health,
For richer and for poorer,
For better or worse,
Forsaking all others,
For as long as we both shall live.
Marriage is a union, and the vows are the contract that govern that union. Breaching any one of them can cause a termination of the 'contract'.