In listening to some selections from my music collection, I heard the song “Temptation Eyes” by the Grass Roots. The song contains some basic truths of use for those struggling with infidelity and temptation. Temptation and affairs often go together. There are also several temptations at work at any given time. There is the temptation to have the affair, the temptation to pay the disloyal spouse back either with a payback affair, spying, hurting them back or even legal paybacks for the affair. It is not only the couple, the other woman/man may also find themselves struggling with the temptation to call the spouse, engage is some extreme behavior or engage in paybacks themselves. With this being the case, at any given time, each of the primary parties involved are struggling with temptation. When the secondary social atom is examined, there are further temptations. The parents, children, relatives or friends of those involved in the affair often experience temptations as well. These parties also have a wide range of emotions that they are tempted to ‘give in to’. At some levels, it may be the temptation to speak out and say something or in some cases to ‘take things in their own hands’ and do something extreme. Their actions may be either direct or indirect in nature.
The interplay of all the parties involved is similar to a mobile spinning through space. Each part of the social world has some relationship and effect on the other parts. The values, drives, desires, morals and passions of each party exterts its influence on the affair situation and relationship. The parties involved in the affair may tell themselves that it only concerns them in order to avoid having to face the many complicated relationships at work. The choices made concerning whether to give in to or resist temptation have a ripple effect on all the parties involved either through primary or secondary relationships. The temptation you give in to may start a series of action-reaction that was never imagined. Consider the potential impact of choices before making them
Best Regards,
Jeffrey D. Murrah
