
Dealing with Infidelity
Infidelity is quite possibly the single most damaging thing that can take place in marriage, and unfortunately it’s also one of the more common problems that married couples will face. Statistics vary on this subject, but it’s widely reported that 60% of men and 40% of women will participate in an extramarital affair at some point during their married life. But if you are experiencing infidelity in your marriage, all the statistics in the world are probably meaningless to you, you are probably only able to focus on the way infidelity has affected you personally. So let’s forget the statistics and keep this personal. At this point, I’m going to assume that you are responding to an affair that has been revealed, and that we’re not just talking about suspicions here. The first thing I want to do is talk about some of the feelings that you are most likely feeling right now. If you are normal, you’re experiencing a whole range of emotions, and if you’re like me, you might fear that you’re loosing your sanity as your emotions take you on a wild roller coaster ride. But take heart, the things you are feeling are perfectly normal reactions to the situation you are currently experiencing, and while I know you probably don’t believe me right now, I promise that these emotions will eventually fade and pass by and your life will become normal again. But first, let’s talk about what you maybe feeling right now:
Now, this list is by no means the absolute complete list. It’s more a starting place to help you understand the wide range of emotions you may be feeling, and to help you accept the fact that they are a normal result of what has happened.. What you’re going through is normal, and it’s important to understand that you may feel different emotions at different times. You may be mad one minute, depressed the next and then slip back into denial before working around to being mad again. Again, don’t worry, you’re not losing your mind! You’ll notice that I’ve selected several books on this subject to highlight here. I honestly believe that you should do some reading on this topic, just to help you understand the things you’re feeling and to learn some new skills for coping with this situation. |