Some may say yes because there are lessons to be learned, but most will answer with a resounding no. How can there be advantages to cheating? Trust betrayed is some of the worst kind of social and emotional damage that one person can do to another. Yes, there are worse things, like physical abuse and murder, but I'd say this one ranks right up there in the top five of damaging events that could happen to any relationship.
Yes, I have been cheated on. I would like to add that if this had been the only thing wrong with my marriage I probably would have stayed. I know it is possible to work things out after a spouse has had an affair. It is very hard work but it can be done, as several articles that I've read in various advice magazines and websites can attest to.
Couples who make their way through this adversity usually come out stronger than before as they learn to reconnect and communicate better with each other. But most of the time, cheating is a sign of something more deeply wrong with the relationship and usually leads to a parting of the ways. Broken homes abound for all sorts of reasons and a cheating partner is one of those reasons.
With divorce already running rampant and so many children dealing with absent parents, single parents dating and step parents who may or may not mesh, it seems the price of cheating on top of all the other issues a relationship faces is not only one more nail in the coffin of a long-lasting marriage or other domestic partnership but also another way that our next generation is often short changed. If there are existing communication or other problems, they need to be addressed as soon as either party becomes aware of them, for the sake of each and every individual involved.
One of the few advantages to having an affair is the momentary satisfaction one may gain during the period of cheating. Most of the time the temporary gains are exactly that - temporary. A one-time fling that is "not hurting anyone" will certainly come back to haunt the cheater in the end, even if their partner is never the wiser. The guilt from keeping such a secret can weigh heavier as time goes by, causing irreparable harm to one's own psyche.
Believing that what you do with your own time and body doesn't cause harm to anyone else is a mistake because we are all connected. Even if a spouse or significant other is unaware of the act itself, they will sense that something is off and it will affect the relationship negatively. And let's not forget all those nasty venereal diseases on top of the emotional damage. Protective measures are never 100% and accidents are bound to occur. Not only do cheaters risk severe damage to their emotional life, but they risk their very health as well.
There are lessons to be learned after the fact as everyone involved works to clean up the mess. This particular method of education is usually best avoided, though, since the harm runs so deep for everyone an affair touches. At least each side now has the opportunity to figure out what went wrong, whether due to picking the wrong companion, improving communication or any other of life's lessons when it comes to relationships.
Hopefully each side can then approach their life with better knowledge of what to do as well as what to avoid. It's unfortunate, but sometimes people just need to learn the hard way.
