After an Affair: Can You Make It Through or Will Your Marriage Fall Apart?
Of all the trials and tribulations that your relationship may face, an affair can sure hit the hardest.
Affairs happen under any circumstance, with both men and women, regardless of age, happiness, sexuality, or marital status. If people want to have an affair, they will do it.
If your spouse has had an affair, you may find yourself wondering one major thing: Can we make it through this, or will our marriage fall apart?
The answer depends on you. Despite an affair, your marriage can recover. However, it will take time and effort to repair and replace old boundaries. Are you prepared to do that?
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Getting Out When Your Partner Refuses to Change – Here’s What You Need to Know
It seems that you’ve done everything you can to make your relationship work. You’ve been patient, expressed your concerns, and have tried to work it out with your partner. Maybe you’ve even gone to couples counseling.
If your partner still refuses to change when it comes to showing their true colors, however, it could be time to end the relationship.
That’s often easier said than done. Just because someone doesn’t change their behaviors doesn’t mean you stop loving them instantly. But, if those behaviors have damaged the relationship, it’s essential to get out safely and healthily.
So, what does leaving look like in that situation?
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Why Do Unhappy Couples Continue Staying Together?
Most of us know numerous couples who have divorced or split up after years or even decades together.
Divorce rates leave no doubt as to the unhappiness of many couples. Sometimes their unhappiness was palpable to all. Reasons for the break up may have been self-explanatory, such as infidelity, addiction, or crime.
Sometimes, though, the end of relationships comes as a surprise to everyone other than the couple. However, some couples stay together despite unhappiness in their partnership, for several reasons.
Here are a few of those reasons and what to do about it should you find yourself in a similar situation.
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Is Your Competitive Marriage Making You Both Miserable? – 6 Helpful Tips
You’ve probably been jealous of your partner at least once during your marriage.
Maybe they are a faster runner, dashing through a 10K while you gasped for air at mile two. Or, perhaps your partner has enjoyed more career success than you have.
Unfortunately, jealousy can quickly cause your relationship to devolve into a competitive marriage. Instead of working together as one unit, each of you is trying to “one-up” the other.
Whether it is over careers or something else, there is an inequality in the marriage that breeds resentment.
Consider these helpful tips if your competitive marriage is making you both miserable.
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Creating a Trusting Relationship: 4 Essential Steps
There are several important keys to any healthy relationship.
One of the biggest foundations is trust. Without trust, a relationship can rarely survive, and it certainly can’t grow.
So, how can you continue to build trust in your relationship?
It takes time, effort, and consistency. But, if you and your partner are both committed to creating a trusting relationship, it can make you stronger than ever before as a couple.
Here are four essential steps for success.
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How to Protect Your Relationship from the Roommate Rut
Whether you’ve been married or just living together for a long time as a couple, no relationship is totally immune from the “roommate rut.”
Sometimes called the “roommate phase” of a relationship, this kind of rut occurs when you simply get caught up in the natural rhythm of your companionship.
For example, when you were first dating your spouse or partner, how did you act? Were you always showing off the best version of yourself? Did you dress nicely? Did you do more exciting things before than you do together now?
When you live together as a couple, it’s easy to fall into the trap of treating each other less like romantic partners and more like roommates. Here are a few ways to avoid getting stuck in this phase?
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Secondary Infertility: Coping with Feelings of Grief and Loss
You and your partner have been trying for a second child for a while. However, at your last doctor’s appointment, you’ve been told that you’re infertile.
At first, you just brush off the news. “Impossible!” you think.
After all, you already had one child. How could you possibly have problems with fertility now? It just can’t be.
Yet, ignoring these deeper emotions of secondary infertility and sweeping them under the rug won’t’ make them go away. In fact, without help, the pain of grieving this loss can turn your whole life upside down.
So, what’s next? First, consider what you’re up against.
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Marital Revival: 7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Relationship
If you’re like most people, you’re more than ready to feel a warm breeze and sunshine on your skin.
Needless to say, winter has a way of getting people down in the dumps.
The long, dark days don’t just affect your mood. They can negatively impact your relationship as well.
In fact, long, dark days in any season can affect your relationship. The reality is that seasons aren’t really to blame. The long, dark day culprit is actually distance—an emotional gap.
No matter how this gap is created, it can dim the spark in your relationship, leaving you in need of a marital revival.
So, in the spirit of all things spring, here are some tips on how to spring clean your own relationship.
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The Age of Social Media: Searching for Personal Connections in a Disconnected World
Is it possible for a platform to do exactly the opposite of what it’s marketed to do?
It sure feels that way sometimes.
Maybe you’ve experienced this for yourself. Perhaps you tried to reach out on social media and were disappointed by the outcome. Afterward, you began to second guess this whole idea of making personal connections on social media.
The experience may have left you jaded and wondering if you’re even using the platform correctly.
The truth is that making a genuine connection via social media isn’t impossible, but it can be a challenge.
Here’s why.
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Celebrate With the One You Love – 5 Romantic Valentine’s Day Ideas
It’s easy to take the one you love for granted.
In fact, many couples forego celebrating Valentine’s Day altogether.
But if you’re ready to spice things up a bit, try opening up to the idea of romance this season.
Although Valentine’s Day is often pegged as a holiday filled to the brim with obligatory expressions of love, go against the flow. You might not even need to try something new. Simply approach it in a new way.
The key is to couple authenticity and creativity when it comes to celebrating the one you love.
Here are five ideas to get you started.
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The Art and Science of Love: 7 Benefits of Gottman’s Renowned Couples Workshop
When it comes to understanding the art and science of love, we all have the opportunity to be students.
However, Drs. John and Julie Gottman are undoubtedly two of the best students/researchers/teachers on the planet when it comes to this topic.
It’s a fact that every couple will leave a Gottman Couples Workshop with their own unique takeaway. Though, the Gottmans have a few “favorites”… nuggets of wisdom that everyone tends to talk about.
Here are some of those “favorites” that will benefit any relationship.
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Out With the Old, In With the New – When Is It Really Considered a Rebound?
Revenge and having a rebound often walk hand in hand.
Ending the journey of a relationship can be very difficult, to say the least. So, some of us resort to other means of soothing the pain—like jumping into a temporary relationship for a reprieve.
But is it just temporary or could it be more?
And how do you really know if your new relationship is simply moving on or if it’s just a rebound?
Here’s how.
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How to Transition from Living Separately to Living with The One You Love (Without Conflict or Losing Your Excitement For Each Other)
Living separately will soon be a thing of your past. You’re taking the leap. You and your partner are going to move in together.
You’re probably both excited and nervous about your new venture, right?
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Unique Wedding Ideas That Don’t Break the Bank
Unique wedding ideas aren’t hard to come by in this DIY era with Pinterest leading the way.
What IS hard to come by are unique wedding ideas that won’t break the bank.
You’ll be happy to know that I’ve rounded up a few inexpensive ideas for your special day.
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Are You Planning a Wedding or a Marriage?
Planning a wedding can take a lot of your time and energy.
Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of bustle of it all and forget that you’re also preparing for a marriage.
Aside from the flowers and guests, you and your fiancé are getting ready to spend the rest of your lives figuring marriage out together. While “forever” is indeed a very long time to figure out this whole marriage thing, wouldn’t it be nice if the two of you had a jumpstart? Lucky for you there is such a thing — premarital counseling.
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New Love or On the Rebound? What Are the Signs You’re Ready to Try Again?
After your last serious love relationship, did you jump on the rebound train for a while?
Lately, though, you’ve been feeling a little dissatisfied and have begun to miss the embrace of a serious relationship.
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An Accidental Affair: Can It Really Happen? If So, How?
The word “accidental” denotes things that happen unexpectedly, actions that were not planned.
Can this expression rightly be applied to an affair?
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Dating Online –- Are You Being Lazy or Smart?
Dating online has become increasingly popular over the past few years.
While still a fairly new idea, it’s not taken much time to attract a lot of attention. It used to market only to a certain stereotype, but now online dating targets anyone with an email address.
For good reason, too.
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3 Out-of-the-box Ways to Celebrate Valentine’s Day
Every February 14, we celebrate Valentine’s day as an affirmation and reconnection for romantic relationships. And over time, many traditions have sprung up.
In the 19th century, sending picture cards to your love for Valentine’s Day was the most popular way to mark the occasion.
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Love on the Back Burner? 5 Ways to Relight the Fire and Stir Things Up
Fire. It’s an irresistibly beautiful thing. It’s fascinating. Mesmerizing.It stirs our soul. It embraces us with warmth. And it nourishes us. It’s a living, breathing thing. So is love.
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