Have you ever known that person that was a self-proclaimed “flirt”? Or was clearly flirting and just said they were being “friendly”? Is that person your significant other? Is that person you?
The lines of flirting and cheating can vary so much from one person to another that there is no clear indicator as to what’s cheating. Often within a relation both parties have a different understanding as well. I am of the opinion that anything you have to hide and do is cheating. Have I ever actually cheated? Wouldn’t you like to know? (smile)
In relationships, if both people don’t have the same understanding of what flirting is, and of what cheating is, it’s very possible those lines can cross and completely crush the trust in the relationship. Furthermore, once trust is lost, there is no relationship. My husband and I had an issue once where a woman I didn’t like was contacting him in a flirty manner. While he didn’t behave in a receptive manner, he did not see it as her flirting with him. I, on the other hand, saw it as flirting, and in essence cheating.
It caused a problem in our marriage, and forced us to revisit our own definitions of flirting and cheating. That’s where I learned that we never had the same definition of flirting and cheating in the very first place. Once we redefined our understanding and came to a common understanding, we were able to move forward with clear boundaries on what flirting and cheating are.
Now, I know some people are just naturally more flirtatious than others, but ladies, please hear this…
Even if you and your significant other have defined flirting to not be cheating, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT flirt in front of your mate. That’s only asking for trouble.