As much as you didn't want it to happen, it just happened too fast and too soon. You don't want to go through the details of what happened last night: the mad dash to the bedroom, the torrid kisses, hot and wild sex that sent you to a mind-blowing orgasm you haven't experienced in a long time. The morning after, you find yourself lying on the bed with another person who's not your partner. The excitement and the passion from last night's sexual encounter is now replaced with the feeling of guilt, despair, or even getting used.

While some people don't have a problem with the occasional casual sexual encounter, many people go through the painful guilt of one – or more – sexual indiscretions. One night stands may last for just a few hours, but they can change the rest of your life for the worse. Many separations, annulments, and even divorces take place because of a single one night stand. The danger of getting sexually transmitted illnesses also increases the riskiness of casual or anonymous sexual encounters. There's also the burden of guilt that never gets light, knowing that you have violated the trust of your partner in you in exchange for a night of sexual pleasure.

If you feel bad about a one night stand and you get bothered by your conscience about what to do with the guilt, here are some ways to make the relationship work.

Reflect on Your Relationship

Believe it or not, there are some people who believe that a casual sexual relationship does not have to get in the way of a commitment. Some couples do agree to swing between partners or have sexual relationships with other people. Even so, they still expect their partners to be honest and open about who they date, who they go out with, and who they have sex with.

Unless you are in a relationship that is as uninhibited as these people, you should never even try to test the waters and see what will happen if you do have a one night stand. Think about the many seriously horrible things you're doing to your relationship:

• You're abusing yourself. It's OK to look for sex and to crave for the pleasure of it, but you're anything but a sex object. If you want to lower and debase yourself to being a tool for someone else's pleasure, then it's all up to you.

• Questioning your commitment to each other. Chances are you're in the majority of couples who believe that you should never break your trust to each other no matter what. The moment you cheat on your partner even just for one night, you're breaking the trust and commitment you made to each other to stay faithful to your relationship.
• Putting his or her health at risk. Sexually transmitted diseases are a very real threat that you can get from a one night stand. You never know when you're going to get something as simple as a fungal infection, or maybe even a life-threatening disease like HIV. (Tips on how to prevent HIV infection)

Remember that you and your partner are the only people who can make the moral call on whether or not a one night stand is right or wrong, but these risks should help you make up your mind about it.

Keep Your Urges In Check

It feels good to have sex, but it's called “making love” for a very good reason. Without love, sex would just be a meaningless way to derive pleasure. There's nothing wrong with inviting your partner for sex; if you need it, chances are he or she needs it as bad as you do.

Sex may be a natural thing, but it does require self-control. In your quest to satisfy your sexual appetite, you may end up harming yourself with a bad infection. Worse, you may break up your relationship with your partner. It only takes one wrong move to mess up your whole life, and that is very true for one night stands.

Be Honest

Delaying the inevitable will get you nowhere. Your partner will discover what you've been up to one way or another. Maybe it's just a spur of the moment, maybe you were drunk and your judgment was impaired, or maybe you're looking for fun and excitement in your relationship. The important thing is to be honest and upfront about your mistakes, and why you did what you did. Here are a few helpful ways to tell your partner about your one night stand:

• Don't make excuses. It's very tempting to say that you were drunk and that you didn't know what you were doing. Now that you've cheated on your partner and betrayed the trust you have in one another, the least your partner wants to hear is a long-winded excuse from you.
• Tell the whole story if necessary. As much as your partner may be in a state of denial by the time you tell what happened, he or she deserves to hear how, why, and when it happened. Remember that you have a commitment to each other, and people in intimate romantic relationships have the right to know what you did to violate the trust. You don't have to get into the graphic details; just explain how it came about.
• Know that you're wrong. Sometimes your partner will blame himself or herself for something he or she shouldn't be blamed for. Don't blame your partner for what you did. Some couples in far worse situations than you don't go through one night stands. Admit that you were the weak link in the relationship, and that you're ready to take what's coming to you.

It's never easy to admit that you're wrong, and it's very easy to make some convenient excuse like, “It's your fault” or “I didn't know what I was doing.” Being honest does not mean you have to be brutally frank, but it does mean that you should be open about what you've done. Being in a relationship means that both of you are aware of things that directly affect who you are as couples.

Suffer the Consequences

No bad deed goes unpunished, and no secret remains undiscovered for long. Now that you've told your partner everything that led to you minor – or major – sexual indiscretion, it's time to face the music. Now that you've successfully betrayed your partner, even if it was a mistake, you'll have to revel in the pain of three consequences:

• A broken relationship. You can't blame your partner if he or she wants out of the relationship and never wants to see you again. You just have to deal with it and realized that you blew something special.
• A broken trust. If your partner does take you back as a significant other or as a friend, you can't blame him or her if he or she feels that you can't be trusted anymore. Expect some restrictions and stipulations in your relationship once your partner takes you back.
• A broken heart. Never mind the pain of breaking up; one of the worst feelings out there is the feeling that you've been used, and while your one-nighter is free to go, you have to suffer the consequences.

Make no mistake about it, but getting rid of a one night stand is not easy, and it's no laughing matter. Once you're over the long and painful process of taking what's coming to you after just one night stand, you should have learned the valuable lesson that one night of passion can change your life not for the better, but for the worse.