When we think of cheating, we only usually consider instances where actual illicit sexual relation has taken placed. We never stop to think of those moments of preparation that brought us to the highest point of infidelity. In reality, infidelity includes those moments where our thoughts are on other man or woman besides our spouse, allowing the temptation to take over and bring us further away from what is deemed as right and proper in our situation.
Cheating moments have their special allure that can be very hard to resist when they come our way. The feeling of being attractive, of being wanted, and of being needed are overpowering needs especially to a lonely person. Loneliness pervades even in marriage which makes many married people vulnerable to the temptation.
Cheating is often used as an escape from the hard realities presented by married life. When we make ourselves available to opportunities for cheating even without any real intention to do it, we set up ourselves for the trap that awaits. Once in, very few are able to come out unscathed.
Conversations, gestures, and emotions that have clearly passed the stage of innocent friendship are preludes to full-blown infidelity. Spending excessive time and effort on a member of the opposite sex at the cost of the stability of the marriage is considered cheating because the spouse participating in it is effectively cheating the legal spouse of the time and effort that was meant for him/her. Cheating moments sometimes disguise themselves as friendly concern for another or having harmless "clean" fun with a co-worker. A definite alarm should be sounded off when these are purposely being hidden from the unknowing spouse. Where there is guilt, there is a tendency for secrecy.
