I’m taking a slightly different angle on this situation.
I think divorce is possibly one of the most misunderstood processes here on SI. It’s not as if you ask for a divorce, file and then try to find ways to live together. It’s not an alternative form of marriage but the TERMINATION of a marriage and the process of finding the minimum future required interaction. Heck – if no children then chances are 2 years post-divorce you won’t see each other again ever. If children then it’s only around events related to them.
Another often misunderstood issue is the proof.
Unless infidelity is a major factor in divorce or custody then all the proof you need is the proof required to convince yourself. That’s it. And it’s relatively rare that infidelity factors at all when deciding custody and divorce.
Yes – it can be beneficial to have enough proof to convince the other betrayed spouse but delaying action to get that proof is not necessarily beneficial.
No – you do not have to have enough proof to convince the WS that they are having an affair. If your proof is solid enough to convince YOU then that’s enough. Definitely recognize the difference between being suspicious and being convinced, but once convinced there really is seldom reason to delay action.
And then there is the action…
A common piece of advice offered here on SI is not to do anything drastic for the first six months. Well… In a sense I agree but taken the way that advice is presented then you basically don’t do ANYTHING. I prefer to rephrase that advice to “don’t do anything unplanned. Think your actions through and refrain from burning bridges”.
You HAVE to take action because the infidelity is eating away like maggots in a festering wound.
And then…
I sometimes shake my head at the posters that come here, share their stories and ask for advice. Then tell us that their situation is so unique that they won’t follow the advice the extreme vast majority of us offers.
Like exposure…
If there is a single act that enhances your chances of getting out of infidelity then that’s exposure.
Be clear on this: Exposure is an action. It’s not a threat. You DO NOT tell your wife you are going to expose or that you have exposed. You simply expose and let the dust settle.
Be clear on this: Your wife will get the news and she will go ballistic. She will tell you that things were going OK but now that you have exposed there isn’t any chance for your marriage. This will last 1-2 weeks until she realizes you mean business. The trick is to remain consistent and purposeful for that time.
There are some ground-rules for exposure: It has to serve a purpose. That purpose is to force the issue regarding the affair. To inform people that can positively influence your wife (or OM) to stop. To remove the fantasy and excitement from the affair. It should always be done with respect and dignity.
I think it’s an extremely powerful moment when a betrayed husband realizes that divorce isn’t the worst outcome of what he’s dealing with. I am not saying you should divorce. Far from it. But what you should do is decide to NOT BE IN INFIDELITY. You then think what you can do to reach that goal and one of numerous tools to reach that goal is divorce.
It’s sort of like if you are fixing your car you don’t go about looking for jobs you can do with your spanner but rather apply the spanner to the jobs that need to be done. Your “job” is to get out of infidelity. Realizing that IF your wife does NOT want to get out of infidelity then you might have to terminate the marriage simply becomes a path or process to take on your journey out of infidelity.
If D sounds daunting then keep a number of things in mind:
It’s a process. It’s not as if you simply file and that’s it. Some states require a wait-period. Some require counseling or mediation. You need to get out of joint commitments, divide debt and assets, custody… It’s a process and it takes time. You can do a lot before turning in the docs and you need to do a lot simply to make the process possible.
At each and every stage of the process you can stop it. But only if both you and your wife want to stop it.
So what I recommend it this:
1) Tell your wife she is totally free to be in infidelity. If OM isn’t available she’s free to find another man. But not as you wife. If she wants to be your wife… then monogamy and a commitment to the marriage is necessary.
Yes – you admit that maybe you might have some part in your marriage hitting a rough spot. Yes – you need to make changes. But her decision to have an affair… that’s like deciding to cure bad breath by shooting your head off with a shotgun.
2) Tell your wife that until and unless she VERBALLY, FREELY and CLEARLY commits to the marriage and the hard work required to reconcile… Then you are simply assuming she’s remaining in infidelity. You however are moving out of infidelity. To reach that goal you are initiating the steps to detach and terminate the marriage.
3) It’s in her reach to stop the process and jump on board the program to exit infidelity. All she has to do is verbally commit and accept your reasonable demands.
These demand should include things like getting a new job, committing to total NC with OM, MC sessions, IC sessions to realize why she thought screwing another man sounded neat.
4) And then you simply move along. Do a good 180. Start the process of separating and detaching.
5) Expose. No warning. No advance. Simply do it.
About the MC sessions…
Despite not being “with” OM sexually then your wife is still in infidelity. Your wife’s affair ended bc the OM wanted it over. He wanted sex -> she wanted emotions. Her thought-pattern hasn’t changed and it’s only a matter of time when she realizes a quick BJ gets her some emotions in return. Or that the new customer who comes over every afternoon really looks cute… or that guy in accounting seems nice…)
While in infidelity then working on relationships and attending MC is a lot like sneaking a six-pack of beer to an AA meeting. You can listen and talk the right talk but you are never going to get results.