What's that one topic of conversation that people try to avoid? The one thing people do that no one likes to talk about? Cheating!

Everyone probably knows at least one person who has been affected by cheating — or may have even experienced it first-hand. Cheating does not only refer to sexual acts; people can also cheat emotionally. You can be intimate with a person and never have a sexual relationship.

I personally have never been cheated on — that I know of, at least — or cheated on a boyfriend, but I have been the "other woman." I have met guys that told me that they were single, just to find out later that they had a girlfriend the whole time. I once found out by having a conversation with her, thinking it was him, on Facebook chat. Talk about an awkward chat.

I find it disconcerting how easily some people can lie. It is one thing to lie to someone about being in a relationship — it's easy to lie to a stranger. What is really troubling is how easily a person can lie to their partner's face, someone who trusts and cares about them. It really makes a person wonder how lying is so easy and why people stay in a relationship when they can no longer be faithful. I would think if I was in a relationship where I no longer wanted to give it 100 per cent, I would get out of it, so why don't some people feel the same way? Why do people cheat?

Here are some reasons or excuses some people give for cheating.

I am sure some of you have heard this before: "It's not cheating if you are in a different area code." How does this make any sense? It's like giving people a "free pass" to cheat every time they are in a different city. Hell, if this were true, guys and girls would be going out of town every time they got bored in their relationship. Cheating is cheating, no matter where the other person is.

There is also the classic line, "Things aren't going so well" excuse to cheat on a partner. "We have been fighting lately and she doesn't understand me like you do." Some of you may have heard this before; these are usually the lines the cheater uses on the person outside of the relationship to get them to comply. Just because things are tough doesn't give people the right to cheat.

Sometimes people are too dependent to leave their partner. They just don't have the courage to end a relationship, even though they don't feel the same way anymore. They still feel like they need that person or might be too afraid to be alone.

Sometimes in a relationship people may not feel appreciated or feel like they are getting the attention they need. Therefore, when another guy or girl comes along who makes them feel special or wanted, they may cheat to compensate for what their relationship lacks.

Others honestly believe they can get away with it. If your partner doesn't know that you are cheating, then it didn't really happen. Just because you keep it a secret so the person doesn't find out doesn't mean you didn't cheat and doesn't mean you got away with it. It just means karma hasn't caught up to you yet.

None of these are excuses for cheating, they are things that people tell themselves to help them sleep easier at night. When someone decides to cheat, everyone involved will eventually get hurt. It could not only destroy a relationship, but it could also destroy future relationships if the person who was cheated on is afraid to trust someone again.

If you can't give a person the respect they deserve, then you don't deserve them at all and you should just end it before it's too late. Just know that dirty little secrets always have a way of coming out.