Cheating. Infidelity. Almost everyone these days has been affected by it in some way or another and if it hasn’t happened to you directly then you’ve most likely watched someone close to you go through it. Whether you’ve been the cheater, the cheatee, or the other person it’s clear that when lines begin to get blurred the reason why it’s all actually happening seem to as well.

The reasons behind cheating are different in every situation and it’s almost impossible to group everyone together and list off some psychological ramblings about why it’s going on. You’re not happy in your relationship? Sure, could be a big reason why you’re cheating. You’re bored and want some new excitement? Yeah, that’s plausible too. But besides all the deep reasons behind why everyone is seemingly cheating on each other these days, there’s a quite simple explanation and that is: because it’s easy.

Never, in the history of the universe, has there been an easier time to cheat on someone you’re in a relationship with. Thanks to technology, our generation has turned into a stealthy group of undercover agents who find excitement in living double lives knowing that dirty conversations and pictures can be deleted with the swipe of a finger, never to be seen again. Passwords aren’t out of the ordinary anymore, so when you lock your phone up before bed you know it’s safe and sound from wandering eyes in the rare case you get a filthy drunk text from your sidepiece in the middle of the night. Smart phones have given everyone the access to secrecy and this easiness is essential to a cheater’s way of life.

Cheating has also become easy because people are so accessible. We are in touch with everyone, from high school hang out buddies to old flames from years ago, to that new person from the bar last week. No one is off limits and this calls for trouble if you’re in a relationship and have the urge to be with someone else. Back in the day, if you wanted to keep in touch with someone you needed more than just their name. You needed a phone number, maybe an address, and can you imagine how ridiculous we would all look these days carrying around 50 pound phonebooks just in case we wanted to look up our high school sweetheart and see if they were down to meet. Not easy. Everyone we have ever known, kissed, slept with, been attracted to, or loved is reachable by simpler ways that through carrier pigeon so being the selfish generation we are, we decide to have our cake and eat it to.

What people need to start remembering is that being in a relationship is a choice. You chose to share your life with this person and if you feel the urge to cheat, instead of doing so because it’s so easy, maybe it’s time to figure out why you are looking for happiness outside of the relationship you’re in. No one deserves to be cheated on, no matter how easy it is but it seems like even those with their heads on straight are falling into the paradox of knowing it’s bad but doing it anyway. The mystery, the suspense, the high of possibly getting caught, the excitement of being with someone new; these are all age old reasons behind cheating but for this generation, it has simply become too easy and accessible to not test it out.

And despite how easy cheating can be the solution to it is just as simple. Find someone you love and you will never have the need to cheat. Be with someone you care for so much that you could never even imagine hurting them in that way. Work on your relationship and trudge through the hard times because you know it will be worth it in the end. Maybe once everyone stops settling for mediocre relationships and realizes that they deserve more, will they stop taking the easy way out and start putting in effort on something worthwhile. Cheating is never the answer but it’s clear that these days, no one even knows the question.