Often times, old habits die hard, while some old habits don’t seem to die at all. These days, it seems almost impossible to come across someone who hasn’t been involved in an unfaithful relationship. Whether having been the victim or the perpetrator, it seems more and more common that we are not only cheating on our significant others, but taking them back afterwards.

Although a cheater correcting his unfaithful habits and never straying again isn’t unheard of, it is mostly the exception to the rule, no matter how badly we try and convince ourselves that it isn’t. When we convince ourselves that all cheaters who sincerely apologize are capable of changing their ways, we set ourselves up for disappointment, and ultimately, become the ones to blame.

When we allow ourselves to continually go back to the ones that hurt us most, we become blinded to what we actually deserve in a relationship. As many times as we’ve read it as a late night tweet or as a cheesy instagram caption, we really do accept the love we think we deserve.

To avoid settling for someone whose cheating spots will never change, here are some tips to keep in mind when dealing with unfaithful partners.

1. The relationship is forever tainted: No matter how hard you try to forget what happened that one night you chose to stay in, you won’t seem to forget it. Every fight you two get in will somehow correlate back to how one person betrayed the other. Not only is it unfair for the person who was cheated on, but also creates an unbalanced relationship for the person who cheated. There will always be one person who “cared more” than the other, which isn’t fair for either of you. 

2. Trust will never be restored: It’s easy to convince yourself that you can trust again, but trust isn’t getting nervous after your significant other doesn’t respond to your texts after 20 minutes on a Thursday night. Trust is fragile, and no matter how hard we try to pretend it is repairable,  it usually isn’t. When you find yourself going through his phone when he leaves the room or saying things like “you can’t go if SHE is going to be there," everything about this relationship will be stressful for a long time.        

3. Love isn’t unfaithful: Although it sounds very black-and-white, real love doesn’t cheat. Anyone who has ever truly been in love with someone can reiterate this statement over and over; “I couldn’t imagine hooking up with someone else.” Not only is the thought of  physically cheating with someone else not tempting, but the idea of hurting the person you love most is even worse. If they cheated, they just don’t love you enough, plain and simple. Sometimes this is the hardest fact for us love-blinded people to understand.  

4. It will happen again: Science literally shows that if your current partner cheated on their ex to be with you, he or she is more likely to cheat in their new relationship yet again. Scientists at the University of Southern Alabama concluded that “individuals who were poached by their current romantic partners were less committed, less satisfied, and less invested in their relationships.” So when your partner is confused as to why you’re worried he’ll run into “her” again at that party you can’t go to, you should remember that cheating is a repetitive cycle.  

5. You WILL meet someone 100% faithful: No matter how convinced you are that your partner is the one and that you will never find another, you don’t have to settle for cheating. You will meet someone more deserving of your love. Nobody should need to lie and cheat to realize how much you mean to them. When you hear, “it just made it clear that you’re the one for me,” run.  I’m not kidding. Never stay with someone because you’re afraid you’ll never be in love again. It may seem impossible at the time, but I once read that “real love shines golden like starlight, and doesn’t fade or spontaneously combust.”  

Constantly I watch my friends make excuses for the ones that have broken their hearts, but the cheated always deserves better. If you ever find yourself being convinced by a cheater to remain in your broken relationship, try and think with your head and not your heart. You may find yourself making a different decision than you would have otherwise.  

University of Southern Alabama Study: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2738217/It...