Why Do We Cheat?

I have always wondered why people cheat on their partners. What exactly goes through a person's mind when he or she makes that conscious decision to stray from their lover, to inflict that pain and strain on their primary relationship by bringing another soul into the defined pair. If a relationship has been defined and there is an understanding of monogamy and loyalty, then what leads us to deviate from that framework?

Is it boredom? Does the monotony of monogamy lead us to search out and explore something different from our everyday?

Is it the thrill of the chase, the conquest of a new sexual seduction that has been long ago lost in the one we have already captured?

Is it a search for a deeper spiritual connection, a search for the missing pieces in our lives that our partner has failed to satisfy?

Perhaps it is the thrill of doing something forbidden, something that churns the heart into overdrive and makes our palms sweat with the fear of getting caught.

Is it revenge? A way to hurt our partners for some wrong they have done to us?

Perhaps the grass is simply greener on the other side: a better lover, a better body, a bigger orgasm?

Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, what I wonder about is how it goes from being a thought in the brain, a fantasy, to the reality of flesh and secrecy. Certainly extra partners don't just appear out of nowhere demanding sex. There has to be some sort of initiation and follow-thru on the part of the one cheating. And how do we justify doing it after the fact, how do we continue to do it over and over again?

to be continued...