"Life is Short"

Today's blog post is due to an email I received today. The email's subject line was "Mariana: life is short, have an affair!". At first glance, I was certain this must be a play on words. You know, like those articles we've seen recently that have a catchy title to draw you in. So I clicked on it to see the "real" message, and this is what I read: 

"The #1 rule to having an affair is to never do it with a single woman. Instead, date a married woman who has just as much reason to keep your affair a secret as you do. At (insert name of the disgusting company that offers this service) it is 100% SECURE, completely anonymous, GUARANTEED!" 

Let's talk about this email. I was initially appalled. I could not believe that this was something people actually go for. Then, I was extremely mad. How in the world did I get this email? Why are these things getting sent to me?? Then the thought kept running through my mind... life is short. 

Dear disgusting company that promotes adultery, 

Life is short. Really? About 80-90 years is short? I don't think so. That's a whole lot of time to go without close familial ties or friendships because you screwed everyone over. I know our society is really into this YOLO* nonsense, and yes, it's pretty funny some times to skip class with your friends and say "YOLO" to justify it. I'm guilty of it. But when it comes to destroying a marriage commitment and potentially tearing apart a family unit, that is where my tolerance ends. It should be where everybody's tolerance ends as well. I know that marriage is seen as unimportant in our society. It's way more fun to just live with someone and be commitment free. If it doesn't work out, then you can go your separate ways without any mess and call it good. That's a lie that has been perpetuated by our society. I'm not suggesting that everyone should marry the first person they fall in love with, but if you do enter into this marriage covenant you need to keep it. I repeat: YOU NEED TO KEEP IT. 

To have an affair is to trade an everlasting joy of family and friendship for a temporary pleasure. Will you have fun in the moment? Probably, especially if you're the kind of person to do that in the first place. Will you be happy in the long run? Absolutely not. Not a chance. I can almost guarantee it. I don't have any experience with this because both my parents and in-laws (my closest examples of long-lasting marriages) are completely faithful to one another. But believe me when I say that temporary pleasures do not make for everlasting joy. But hey, you know what? Life is short. 

I don't want to cheat on my husband. Why? Oh I don't know, maybe because I love him and have built an eternal friendship and trust with him. We are one unit now. It's me and him - we have each other's backs and are our greatest supporters. When I have a bad day he is the first person I turn to for comfort. He has dropped everything for me on several occasions simply because I needed a hug and a chat. We've been married over a year now and it's not always been a cake walk. Whenever you put two people together that were raised in different homes, you're going to have conflict. But the way you go about fixing it is not by cheating on your spouse, but by working hard alongside them to continue your marriage. It's a conscious choice you make every day to love your spouse more than yourself and to put their needs before your own. Yes it's hard, but it's so worth it. That sort of relationship is not anything to play with. I know what I stand for, and adultery is not it. 

So to the company that is inviting me to commit adultery, no thank you. I plan on keeping my covenants I've made with my husband and the Lord. 

Sincerely, 
Someone with morals. 




*for my more seasoned readers, YOLO is an acronym for "you only live once".