1. YOU FEEL THRILLED: You automatically know what you’re doing is wrong. You’re only lying to yourself by feigning innocence. Maybe it’s the rush of entertaining something you know is incredibly immoral, but no second thoughts linger long enough in your mind to stop yourself from what you’re about to do.
2. THEN YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU’RE DOING: Once it happens, it’s over. You can’t take it back. Before you allow it to sink in, you’ll most likely conjure up any type justification for what you did. He flirts with plenty of other girls. He ignores your texts. You’ll attempt to ease your conscience with just about every excuse in the book.
3. THEN YOU FEEL REGRET: You finally realized you couldn’t fool yourself– what you did was so awful and if you could, you’d rewind time to that moment and instantly pull yourself away.
4. THEN GUILT CREEPS IN: Each time your significant other kisses you or even asks about your day, a new wave of guilt overcomes you. You feel sick thinking about how good he is to you when you did the worst thing possible to him.
5. THEN YOU FEEL PARANOID: On top of that, you’re constantly afraid he will find out, even if he has zero connections to the person you did it with. You’re so paranoid you worry he can already read it off your face without you even uttering a word.
6. AND THEN REGRET: Maybe you finally told your partner. Or maybe the truth found its way back to him. You’ve apologized countless times yet it still doesn’t feel like enough; you vow to do anything to make it up to him. Seeing the despair in his eyes rather than only visualizing it in your head is a reminder of how important this man is to you and how heartbroken you’d be if you lost him
7. AND FINALLY ACCEPTANCE: Maybe he gave you a second chance. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, you’ve finally come to terms with what you did and decided to stop beating yourself up about it. You made a mistake, but you found the courage to forgive yourself. You can’t be miserable forever.