Turn the page or forgive and forget? Although, in the face of infidelity, the first thought is always the first, experience says that we almost always opt for forgiveness and forgetting. Of course, they have to go hand in hand. If you forgive but do not forget, it will create an unpleasant memory that will haunt you from now on. Forgiveness must be offered “completely”, assuming all its consequences.
The tendency is to think that an infidelity completely and forever destroys a relationship, but the truth is that it does not have to mean the end of the couple. Although the vast majority of people who are asked “would you forgive your partner if he or she were unfaithful?” answer no, in practice many try to make things right.
There are several factors that depend on whether the relationship ultimately ends up mending or breaking up altogether. First of all, it depends a lot on the person: what he/she is willing to forgive or not, if he/she will be able to live well and in peace with him/herself if he/she decides to forgive, if he/she will be able to live without the other person in the case of deciding to separate forever… The situation in which the couple is at the time of the cheating also has a great influence: if they were coming from a crisis or if, on the contrary, they were perfectly fine and there was no need to cheat on each other. More doubts are also raised in this situation: was it just a hot flash, or did he/she really not care about you and that is why he/she didn’t care about you and that is why he/she didn’t care about the infidelity?
The question “Would you leave your partner if he cheated on you?” is also influenced by other external factors:
How that infidelity was discovered. It is not the same thing to catch your partner red-handed, than for him/her to tell you with regret. If the first case occurs, it will be more difficult to forgive, since you will never know if he/she would have continued cheating on you for much longer. On the other hand, if he/she tells you and is totally honest with you, explaining the reasons why he/she did it, you can understand him/her or even put yourself in his/her shoes.
Do many people know? Another aspect that is often decisive between breaking off the relationship or not after an infidelity is whether many people have found out about it. Generally speaking, if the word has not spread too far, it seems that couples are mostly in favor of second chances.
Not everything in life is “black and white”. Things happen under a certain context and circumstances, and our reactions sometimes surprise us. Each couple and each case is different, and in this matter each person must act according to their principles and make a decision that allows them to feel good about themselves.