Betrayal
This one word just about sums up the entirety of what you must have felt when you found out about your partner's affair. You move through the stages slowly - the paralyzing shock, the gut-wrenching pain, and the gnawing hollow that it leaves where you're loving heart used to be - before fury seizes you so fiercely you are likely to burst with the vehemence of your anger.
You hate your partner, you hate the third party, and you hate yourself in turns. Even as your rage subsides, your resentment grows. Your self-esteem takes a beating - how could he/she do this to you?! - and you are overtaken by the desire to punish someone for the grave wrong that was done to you.
Yes, betrayal does wake up all these impassioned feelings... but where does it leave you? Will it help you to move on? When you have been hurt like this, how will it help if you allow anger or hate to consume you? How will it help if you punish or hurt or blame someone?
Let's face it. You find yourself here because all the negative emotions are doing you more harm than good. You need to let it all go. You need to forgive - your cheating spouse, the consenting third party, and yourself. But the how of it eludes you - or maybe even the why. At the moment, the important thing is this: you need to forgive and yes, believe that forgiveness is your first true step to healing and moving on.
What is FORGIVENESS?
Forgiveness is about compassion for those who have wronged you. It is letting go of the desire to hurt or punish someone for causing you this mind-numbing pain. You cannot pretend forgiveness, nor can you force it. Forgiveness is a state of grace wherein your compassion allows you to freely decide to release all feelings of resentment towards the person who has hurt you.
Forgiveness is different from acceptance - acceptance is passive and it does not exactly mean that you are free from your resentment and anger. Forgiveness does not require you to forget nor does it demand that you excuse the infidelity of your spouse. And very definitely, forgiveness does not justify the wrong that was done to you.
While forgiveness is not forced, it is still a decision you can make - the decision to muster genuine compassion for the person who has betrayed you. Actually, the act of forgiving is not entirely for the benefit of your errant partner; in fact, when you forgive, all of the benefits redound mostly to you.
Why is forgiveness NECESSARY?
Forgiveness is a powerful affirmative force - a perfect counterbalance to all the negativity of the betrayal of the affair. Forgiveness itself is a powerful healing balm necessary for you to truly move on. You cannot hope to move on with your life if you are burdened and shackled by resentment.
Admittedly, you can never really be free of the memory of the betrayal - at least not immediately - and the pain will take a long time to ebb away. But when you have forgiven your cheating partner, you loosen the choke hold that the pain of betrayal has on you.
If you don't forgive, there is every possibility that anger will eat away at you. When you allow your animosity to consume you, you will become a bitter person. It all goes downhill from there. When you find yourself in a different relationship, your anger will make you wary and distrustful. How then can you enjoy being in a relationship when you are consumed by your bitterness?
The value of future relationships - of intimately connecting with another human being - becomes warped in your depression or anxiety for a wrong that you cannot let go of. At the back of your mind, you expect to be hurt again and you psychologically steel yourself for that.
This is why it is important to let all that resentment go -- not necessarily because you mean to get back with your cheating spouse - but because you want to move on with your life on a positive, rather than a negative, note. And you want to believe in love again - trust that you can be happy in a relationship again.
PROCESS of forgiving
More than a destination, forgiveness is a process. That is why committing yourself to this process of forgiving is already cathartic. Forgiving is a lot like grieving. When you grieve for a person, you liberate him or her from whatever wrong done to you and remember only the good times you shared - essentially, when you grieve, forgiveness is a foregone conclusion.
As a process, the initial stages you go through when forgiving someone is a lot like the when you are grieving someone - after all, you are grieving the loss of a relationship you used to cherish. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross described the stages of grief as follows: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, and acceptance. This is only natural. After this comes the process of actually forgiving.
1. Denial.
Denial will be your first reaction when you learn of the affair. Even if your spouse owns up to the affair, you cannot stop yourself from wanting it all to be just a bad dream from which you will wake.
2. Bargaining.
Bargaining comes after denial. The relationship was your comfort zone - whether it was a good or bad relationship, whether your partner treated you wonderfully or cruelly - it's not easy for you to turn your back on that. Even if all your instincts tell you otherwise, you just can't get out of that box - not yet.
And so you bargain: whatever it takes to make it alright between you and your treacherous partner. You'll beg, you'll coerce, you'll threaten but it is all just a desperate act. You may feel foolish afterward but it is also part of the healing process.
3. Anger
Anger follows that rather short phase of bargaining, whether you were successful at it or not. Your anger has always been lurking behind your denial and your bargaining and sooner or later this rage will burst forth. We have different ways of letting off steam but what's important is to find a means of venting it out that you will not regret later on.
4. Depression
Depression is when all the pain starts to sink in and your anger can no longer mask it. The gloom creeps in and you cannot keep it at bay. The remorse is partly because you were betrayed but part of it could also be because you feel inadequate to hold your partner's attention.
Your self-esteem nosedives and self-pity becomes your favorite pastime. Let the tears flow. Embrace the pain - do not deny yourself the purgative powers of tears. Bawl if you must - sob - just don't let it fester like a wound. Only when you are drained of your anger and your depression will you be able to move to the next and last stage of grieving.
5. Acceptance
Acceptance ends your grieving. You are not OK - you are still feeling the residues of anger and pain - but you have accepted the fact that your partner has cheated on you. It's done - it's over - and nothing can change what has happened.
The first four stages make you try a roller-coaster of bleak emotions but they will not be long-lived. Give yourself time to grieve but don't dwell on it. Acceptance will come to you once you recognize that the betrayal has happened and nothing can undo the past. Acknowledge it. Then go on to the next stage.
It is only too tempting to go back to square one - you've been hurt and you want others to hurt too. You want revenge - eye for an eye, their pain for your pain. But that will only be counterproductive for you. In the end, you gain nothing by torturing yourself with the bleakness..
Once you have accepted the fact of your partner's betrayal, you stand on the cusp of a very crucial time in your relationship: what's the next step for you? And what's the next step for you and your spouse? Only when you have reached the stage of acceptance should you make such decisions.
This will be the first time during this dramatic period of your life that your mind is not fogged by pain and anger. You need a clear, rational head to decide where to put your foot next.
Now, it's not only when you wanted your spouse back that you should aim for forgiveness. Even if the betrayal was so deep and damaging that you have no choice but to break up, you still need to forgive. Again, forgiveness is a process. Each stage brings you closer to that state of grace wherein your genuine compassion is evoked and you can honestly say that you have forgiven your spouse.
6. Reflect on why you need to forgive.
Before you can forgive the one who has wronged you, you need to appreciate its value. Only when you believe in its importance can you begin the journey of forgiving.
7. Welcome the apology.
That doesn't mean that saying sorry will make it alright - far from it. Saying sorry is an admission of guilt and that does open fresh wounds. Sometimes you may not even want to hear it - you are too wary of your cheating spouse that you would always doubt his or her sincerity. An apology will not cleanse the taint that the betrayal has smeared on your relationship.
But let's face it - it's easier to forgive someone who has said sorry - not easy, but easier. The more genuine the apology, the more it evokes the compassion needed to forgive. Don't spurn the apology but don't give in to it unless you are ready to. Do not also give false hopes to the person asking your forgiveness - if you truly don't feel that you have forgiven him or her then don't say so just because you feel awkward with all the contriteness your partner is exuding.
8. Examine yourself.
Where before you look at yourself deprecatingly - and you might have even blamed yourself for your spouse's straying - now try to reflect objectively. What did the betrayal cost you? What have you gained?
Stick to the facts. Try and look at yourself from somebody else's point of view. How have you reacted? How has it affected your life, your well-being? What steps have you taken? At the end of this painful journey, you would want to emerge not as the victim but as the victor - stronger, wiser. Your goal is to triumph over this betrayal - not unlike a phoenix rising from the ashes.
9. Decide to forgive.
You cannot force forgiveness - that is why you need to go through all the above processes. You are preparing yourself to forgive. After all, forgiveness doesn't just come to you - forgiveness is an option that you can either choose to take or not. Before you can forgive, you must actively choose to forgive. But only when you are ready, of course.
10. You are not a victim.
No matter how much it feels like you are, having been betrayed and all, you need to move away from that role. That's right, you are merely playing a role - a role which was unpleasantly and forcefully thrust on you - but as with any roles, you can shed it.
11. Liberate yourself from the affair's control.
You can take this literally if that is your decision - i.e., to break up with your partner - but it is meant to be figurative. When you relinquish the role of victim, you empower yourself - and free yourself from the control the pain of the affair has on you. Letting go of the hold that the situation has over your life allows you to wrestle control for your life back into your hands.
BENEFITS of forgiveness
When you want to get back with your cheating spouse, of course you first need to forgive him or her. Otherwise, the betrayal would always hang like Damocles' sword over your fragile relationship. Even the most innocuous remark can tip you over the edge. You will begrudge your spouse your trust, and love can never hope to flourish in that kind of environment.
Unless you have forgiven your spouse, you will always be haunted by his or her infidelity so much so that you expect it to happen again. That would a very tense relationship you have there, one that cannot hope to last.
So yes, forgiveness benefits both parties who consent to stay together despite the affair. It is not an option but a necessity for a healthier relationship. People in relationships not ultimately broken by infidelity find that the lessons they learn from the affair makes their relationship stronger, healthier. But only if they have forgiven.
But more than healing a broken relationship, forgiveness benefits the person who forgives - emotionally, psychologically and even physically. Here's how:
a. Relieving yourself of the grudge and bitterness allows compassion to flourish. And therein lays your peace of mind and the serenity of your spirit.
b. As mentioned, forgiveness is necessary to regain the healthy relationship you've had with your spouse. But even if you decide to part ways, you will be more open to a healthy relationship with someone else if you have forgiven your past.
c. The trauma of your spouse's infidelity can destabilize your mental well-being. Forgiveness can ease that trauma so you regain your psychological health.
d. Forgiveness chips away at your depression. If you can muster the compassion to forgive someone, then there is no reason for you to beat yourself up over the affair and whatever you believe your role was in it. The pain will take a long time to truly go - and you may never be able to forget it - but as you have forgiven the wrong done to you, your sadness over the betrayal will be tempered by your acceptance and compassionate understanding of it.
e. Forgiveness also lessens your hostility - to your spouse and to others - and makes you less anxious to be in a relationship and more relaxed among your friends.
f. Having to face the fact of your partner's infidelity is stressful at all levels. Forgiveness eases that stress because once you have forgiven, you have let go of the cause of all that strain.
g. Stress can be detrimental to your physical health. Stress has often been the precursor for a lot of lifestyle diseases. As well as that, we also tend to take our own health for granted when we are stressed out or wallowing in sorrow. Once you have forgiven your traitor of a spouse, the stress will also gradually melt away.
h. Others cope with the infidelity of their partners by getting hopelessly drunk. Alcohol and certain drugs do mask the pain momentarily but they don't drive it away. The pain is muted only when your brain is fuzzy with alcohol or you are high on drugs but the pain will hit you with the fullness of its force as soon as you are sober. This is why some become addicted to the escape that alcohol and drugs afford them, however temporary it is. But when you forgive, the relief is permanent - there is no pain to mute, no trauma to mask.
BARRIERS to forgiveness and OVERCOMING them
Forgiveness is so much easier said than done. No matter how committed you are to forgiving your errant spouse, there are several obstacles that would derail you from successfully completing the process.
You'll have to face each challenge before you can ever hope to reach your goal. Here's how.
1. You're still reeling from the pain.
Forgiveness may be the last thing you'd want to do if the battering your emotions took still feels too raw and fresh. But even then, you should already start the process because this is part of your healing, part of how you can move on. As you commit yourself to the process of forgiving, you are in fact initiating the process for easing your own hurts.
2. You want revenge.
You want retribution for the betrayal - it hurt you, shamed you, and broke you - and you want others to suffer as much or more. You want revenge so much that you feel it is more of a burning need before you can move on. You feel that only after you have made your partner as miserable can you forgive.
But what is more important to you - to amplify your partner's misery or to diminish your own? Your partner is already miserable for his or her part in the betrayal - you are not the only one suffering. If you take your revenge, you may be satisfied for the moment but it will not last long because now you will be the one on the erring side. And no, it doesn't even the playing field - it only makes the situation worse.
3. You cannot forget.
Again, forgiving doesn't mean forgetting. No way can you forget such a trauma nor should you. There are valuable lessons to learn from the affair and you would do well to use them to your advantage. You need not be grateful for the betrayal but if you want to triumph over it, you need to dig out what good it has gained you and become a better person for it. Never forget the experience although in time you will not be able to remember the intensity of the pain it caused you.
4. Your partner has not apologized.
Apology - a sincere apology- is usually the prerequisite for forgiving a cheating spouse. If that does not seem forthcoming - or worse, your partner seems incapable of remorse - then it would really be difficult to forgive him or her.
You cannot force your partner to apologize and because of this you might take a longer time to forgive. The best thing to do is distance yourself from your partner and surround yourself with compassionate family and friends. As the pain subsides, make a conscious effort to let your resentment go - forgiveness after all is a choice.
5. You don't want to reconcile.
While forgiveness has everything to do with reconciliation, reconciliation has nothing to do with forgiveness. You can - and in fact you should - forgive even if you do not plan to get back with your spouse.
Forgiveness is not passive. There's no telling how soon or how long it will take you to forgive someone but what's important right now is initiating the process. Some people feel that after having turned their back on their erring partners, they have already moved on without having to forgive. But these people are also emotionally volatile. They have not mustered the compassion to let all the grudges go and random events can unexpectedly open up anew the fount of pain that they have merely lidded. The bitterness stays, the resentment lingers. That is not the kind of person you want to be. So forgive... and be free.
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By Kajay Williams
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