Can A Relationship Survive Cheating?

Unfaithfulness in marriage is the primary cause of divorce in America, with 37% of relationships calling it quits. But is there a way you can save your relationship after infidelity? Can a relationship survive cheating? With the right tools and approach, any relationship can still thrive after infidelity.

For this to happen, both the cheater and the victim have to be ready to put some effort into working on their relationship. People always cheat for some reason, thinking that the grass is greener on the other side. Sometimes this may be true, but most cases end up with regrets and the cheater hoping to rebuild their relationship.

Either way, if you find yourself cheating or being cheated on and want to save your relationship, you must make some crucial steps.

Steps to make your relationship survive after cheating

Once the affair is no longer a secret between the partners, there will be a feeling of guilt, betrayal, anger, and lack of trust between each other. But when love prevails, and both of you still want to take steps to heal, it is possible. It will not be easy, and it will take time to rebuild the relationship again. Here are some necessary things to consider to repair your relationship.

Take your time

It is always not a good idea to make decisions at the peak of your emotional issues. Take some time and reflect on what happened and where you need to be. Any rash decision could lead to even more consequences for your relationship or marriage.

Be Accountable

If you are the one who has committed infidelity, it is crucial to take responsibility and apologize to your partner. Feeling sorry for your actions is the first step that shows you acknowledge your mistake and that you are ready to change for the better and give your relationship another chance.

Seek Help

Your friends may know how they can help you if you cheated or if you got cheated on. Talk to them about the issue and let them show support to you. Friends will always not be judgemental and are great people to lend you their ears. Other people you can talk to are the spiritual leaders and counselors.

Address the Issues That Led To Cheating 

There are many reasons why people cheat. Some cheat for lack of intimacy in their relationship. Others cheat because they think they will not be caught or because their relationship has changed in many ways.

Things not working out in your relationship should not be an excuse for cheating. Improve your relationship’s communication, time for each other, sex, and what was lighting things up before. 

Infidelity must stop 

When you want to rebuild your relationship after a cheating incident, it must stop first for you to move on. The party that cheated must never see the person they cheated with again. Cutting communication with them can be important in the healing process. It is a waste of time if you are trying to move on while you are still in touch with the person you cheated with.

Honesty will rebuild trust.

If you want to rebuild the lost trust back again in the relationship, being honest to one another is vital. Talking to each other about the cheating affair can set the environment to tell why you or your partner resolved to cheat. Talking about the affair with each other and revealing exactly what happened and the many unknowns could lead to forgiveness and trust again.

Sometimes silence is the best medicine.

Sometimes, if you cheated and want to rebuild your relationship with your partner, it is better to keep it to yourself and work towards changing. Although this is controversial if you feel the consequences of admitting your mistake to them could be too hard to bear, just shut your mouth about it. If you go with this option, just make sure you change for good and never go back to cheating because they did not find out.

How to make a relationship survive after being cheated on

Start over together

Recreating a relationship needs both parties. Let go of the past and the parts of a relationship that are not worth remembering. Together, work towards creating a new and better relationship with each other. 

If you work things out together and know each other better from the incident, you can emerge out of the situation a better couple and are even stronger than before.

Do not try to revenge

You may be tempted to trash talk your partner on social media or with your friends and let everybody judge them. You may also be tempted to cheat on them because they did the same to you. This is always a wrong decision that will just hurt you more. The anger will still be there, the betrayal, mistrust, and negativity. When all these still exist, your relationship will be ruined and could end. To rebuild your relationship after infidelity, you need to work things out together without blaming one another.

Do not play the victim.

You feel you do not deserve being cheated on. But it has happened, and you should not wallow in self-pity. If you play the victim, you will ruin your self esteem and damage your belief in yourself. If you want to avoid feeling inferior because your partner cheated on you, do not play the victim.

Do not involve the children.

Keep the children out of the drama as long as possible until when they must know. When you involve the children in such situations, they may begin feeling like the family is breaking up and losing you. Always ensure that they know just what they need to know and that things will work out between the two of you.

Do not let someone else make decisions for you.

Your mother, family, or friend can advise you to leave or give your partner another chance. But the final decision lies with how you feel and whether the relationship is worth saving. Always listen to your inner voice. People close to you will always have different opinions, but you know what’s best.