Admittedly, there's enough ambiguity and vacillation that ought to be preceded by "Dear Penthouse" that I could have misinterpreted the subtext. So, correct me if I'm wrong...but, what this says to me is that you were personally opposed to cheating until you were the instrument of it, which converted you to viewing it as a potential good. That's what I'm reading there.
Don't get me wrong, I've been the unwitting instrument more often than i care to recall, but it didn't change my feelings about it. It usually just made me pissed at the chick (and myself) when I found out.
This isn't even about cheating. My objection is to rationalizing one's own behavior as moral, because "hey, I'm a good person, so how bad could it be?"
You stopped judging because continuing to judge meant you would need to judge yourself. Again, I may be misreading your post, but that's what it appears to be saying.
Speaking as a man who's always been pretty hard on himself, people giving themselves hallpasses when they should be soul-searching has always been a pet peeve of mine, and it's starting to seem to me that includes most people under 40.
Yes, you are accurate. I was opposed to cheating and then converted to viewing it as a potential good.
As to the moral question, yes it has caused cognitive dissonance as to what I believe to be right and wrong.
There some additional background:
The woman that I had this experience with described how she was 'set-up' for the engagement. She was to accompanying her BF on his families yearly week-long vacation. He popped the question on the first day and although she was reluctant decided in the moment to say yes due to the fact that she, he and family would be together for the whole week.
She then describes how he has moved in an additional family member who needs long-term care without asking her and that now she was a default primary-care giver without her overt consent.
He then comes down with an ailment that reduces his working hours and is now unemployed for the last six months.
She also describes has she hasn't had sex in over a year and was craving it.
So having heard all that, I suggested that she do what makes her happy. If she's unhappy in her relationship she needs to communicate that. If she no longer wants to get married, then communicate. If she doesn't want to do the primary care-giving for two people, again communicate, get clear on what you want and go for it.
Up to this moment we were just chatting and then I had a thought.
For me, I meditate fairly frequently so that I can be smoother about going with 'first thoughts'.
I threw out the offer of sitting in yab-yum to exchange and ground energy between us. It was in this embrace where she kissed me and things escalated from there.
Just before I was about to enter her, we hear the atv fire up and proceed to listen as her fiance travels all the paths, the perimeter of the property looking for her. I suggested that she text him and get clear. She resisted at first then acquiesced. She said that she had found some camping gear leftover from the festival and told him she was going campout in it, not to worry and she'd be home in the morning. To my surprise he was cool with this. After she puts down the phone,
I say, 'Hey this is a good place for a break,...'
She's replies 'fvck it, I want this!'
How I see it is she was in a situation that she wanted more clarity. She's unhappy, most certainly the dude is as well or non-confronting.
To have a 'fling' for her gave her the clarity of what she wanted, want she needed to do, the price she would have to pay and determine if it was worth it. She could choose to remain in the relationship or to leave. The experience gave her courage to make a change.
Now, when she lied to him the night before, I told her that I didn't feel right about lying to him if I saw him in the morning. I know him, I think he's ok, he's not done me wrong but to not have sexed up his woman for a year didn't sit right with me either.
To alleviate my cognitive dissonance, I proposed we play 'The Secret Agent' game. Yes, I see this as a rationalization to make myself feel better. However my morals have now shifted. Instead of feeling judgement for all the folks that I've known to 'cheat', my judgement gave way to compassion. I realized that people at times are in difficult emotional spaces and who am I to judge what they need or don't need.
Am I now looking to actively seduce women in relationships? No.
I'm gonna keep putting my attention on women when it pleases me. The quality of my attention is a rare experience for a woman.
And if there's an easy energetic unfolding that is effortless, I'm gonna pay attention to that as well and not have a social convention thwart something beautiful that wants to happen.