How Does An Affair Influence Your Marriage In The Long Term?

By Jiga

Sometimes, when your spouse is having an affair, it's very difficult to think beyond tomorrow - much less well into the future. But once the shock wears off and the dust settles, many faithful spouses realize that this is exactly what they have to do. Because, in order to make a sound decision about the course of your marriage, it makes sense to consider what your marriage might look (and feel like) into the future. But this is often difficult to gage and it's a topic that you know is so important that you don't want to just guess at it.
I might hear from a wife who says: "my husband is begging me not to leave him because of his affair. I have agreed to wait a couple of months before I make a decision. But sometimes, I regret making this promise. I truly would like to save my marriage, but I'm not going to be naive about it either. My husband likes to pretend that we can just pick up our marriage like the affair never happened. I know that this is very short sighted. I know that this isn't reality. I have had friends who have dealt with the reality of an affair and it seems to me that almost all of them continue to struggle, long after the affair is over. I'm just wanting to understand what are the long term effects of an affair on a marriage? What does our long term future look like?"
This is a very difficult question to answer. Because honestly, the answers depend upon several variables like the depth of the deception, the length of the affair, the state of the couple's marriage after the affair, and the amount of work done during recovery.
The Long Terms Effects Of An Affair Can Be Both Positive And Negative. But The Marriage Is Rarely Completely Unchanged: While the truth is that it's very likely that you are not going to have the same marriage after the affair, what is often up in the air is whether this will weaken or strengthen your marriage. To be fair, I'm going to list common negative and positive long term effects after an affair because I feel like both are completely possible. Honestly, the course that you end up on is, at least in some ways, up to you and your spouse and how much work and effort you're willing to undertake.
Some people don't believe their spouse deserves their efforts and this is a fair argument. I understand it. I'm not trying to tell you what you should do. I'd just like to give you a glimpse into possible outcomes, keeping in mind that all couples are different.
Negative Long Term Effects Of An Affair: I would say that most every couple knows those neighbors or mutual friends who have a marriage that is rocked by an affair but who never truly recovers. Although this couple stays together, it's often clear that they are doing so reluctantly and that there is still a good deal of anger present. There can also be resentment by both parties. The faithful spouse has resentment for obvious reasons. She has been wronged. But the cheating spouse can feel resentful too. Because he can feel as if he's going to have to pay for this mistake forever. And he can feel as if his spouse wants to make him grovel for the rest of his life, no matter how remorseful he is and no matter how much he tries to make amends.
In short, this couple is beaten down. Both of the are well aware that this isn't a great marriage and that neither one is happy or at peace. But, they just accept this as their lot in life. Often, they really do not want to live this way. They would like for things to be better. But they just do not know how to cross over toward healing. And so they feel stuck, frustrated, and a little bit angry most of the time. At the same time, they don't want to let their spouse off of the hook by just walking away.
Positive Long Term Effects Of An Affair: I hope that the above couple of paragraphs weren't too depressing. There is some good news. First, couples like the ones described above don't have to live this way forever. You can always chose a new way. You can always begin to heal even when you think it has been way too long.
And, some couples actually find themselves in better marriages than before the affair. I know that this is hard to believe. When a therapist told me this, I thought she was only trying to sell her services to us, at one of the most awful times in our marriage. But, with time, I can tell you that this is true. I've seen it in my own life and in the life of others. It is not easy. It is not automatic. And it's also not constant. There are ups and downs. I'm not going to tell you that every day in my marriage is rosy and that I never think about the affair because that wouldn't be true.
But I can tell you that bad days are mostly rare. In fact, our communication today is actually stronger than it ever was. We speak up if there is something wrong because we know what can happen when we become complacent. I have also made big changes in myself and in the way that I look at marriage and all relationships. My relationship with my husband is something I chose. It is not something that I depend on to define myself. Never again will I depend on someone else for my own happiness and self esteem. I trust my husband. I do not believe that he will cheat again. But if he does, it's not going to make me think less of myself. I spent a lot of time building myself up and becoming the type of person that I want to be. In part because of the affair, I have learned that all I can really control is myself and the way that I live my life. This has changed my outlook on control. I used to want to control my husband, keep him on a short leash, and make him feel guilty if he disappointed me. Now, I realize that this is manipulation based on fear. And it's not the way that I want to live my life. I can be responsible for my own happiness. And in turn, this has opened up our relationship so that we feel much less pressure. We know that we are both here because we want to be. And this really has transformed our relationship.