Have the choices of others ever made an impact on you? Were they choices you never saw coming? Choices that didn't necessarily put you in the best position because of their selfish and unethical nature? Have the choices made you question your standing with this individual, or individuals, and who they truly are as a colleague or even a friend?

These mind boggling and confusing feelings on what has just happened usually take the hurt individual in two very different directions. The direction the individual chooses is one that should only be picked by them.

When thrown into this situation, most people either choose to cut ties with the other individual and relationship or they choose to be resilient through it all.

Those who feel like they have been wronged to the point where forgiveness and a continuation of the same relationship is unlikely are the ones who tend to walk away from everyone and everything involved entirely. They're your typical grudge holders, and there's nothing else this person can think about when they see the individual who acted on the betrayal. There's nothing wrong with reacting in this way. Maybe these individuals attempted to talk through the way things played out, but no fair resolution or empathy came about.

Every situation of betrayal is different, as some are more severe than others. In the end, everyone needs to do what's best for themselves to be able to move forward and some people were just not meant to be apart of that future.

People who take a more resilient approach to the topic at hand are either too laid back to care, value the relationship of the individual or individuals too much, or took the time to have a therapeutic conversation with those the individual felt betrayed by. This kind of direction can be hard to follow, and it's hard to follow of course because it seemingly has the most positive outcome. There are times in everyone's lives when we need to be looking out for ourselves no matter the costs.

This resilient individual can realize that, and they can take a punch in the gut for what the other individual so desperately needs. More often then not, the stakeholders involved in the betrayal were able to come to an understanding about why and how things played out. Understanding and empathy for others is key to continue moving forward in an potentially toxic situation.

Betrayal in friendships and relationships, or within a business between coworkers, are all very different from one another. You know, cheating within a couple is going to be a much different situation than between a friend who maybe chose to be apart of something else without telling the other friend. Depending on whatever happens is how one should decide the direction in which they would like to follow.

My hope is that if any one unfortunately succumbs to a predicament like this, that they really take the time to think about which direction would be best suited for them to go by. What can they handle and what can they see as being productive and not a complete waste of time?