Everything you're tossing over in your head is very heavy, understandable, and real. It all makes sense.
I guess this could be a place where you may need to take a leap of faith and really dive into the 180.
We have to be clear here: without this man stopping his relationship with his girlfriend, there should be no "I'm willing to give it a chance" or "maybe I'll wait until June." Right?
but when he says he wants to try it makes me want to try.
The first step in him trying is for him to stop communicating with his affair partner. His girlfriend. How long are you willing to give him to take this first step?
Let me give you two pictures of your possible future:
Future #1
You keep going like this, just as you have for the last couple of weeks. Because everything is so confusing and scary and intense, you just do it because you're scared of the alternative. He keeps having a girlfriend. Secret things that you don't even know about will continue to happen. You'll feel it in your bones, he'll lie and half-truth about it. He'll treat you like you're crazy for continually asking him about this stuff and eventually you'll stop asking because you don't want to hurt him or be a "bitch." He'll say things like "See? This is the shit that makes me not want to stay married to you." Because who would want to stay married to a bitch? Eventually you'll find evidence that he slept with her again, or they made out in his car, or they've been exchanging emails every day. Some of those emails will talk about how bad a wife you are, or how shitty you are in bed, or how stupid he thinks you are. And then you'll come back here after D-day #3 (or 4, or 5). This could take weeks, months, years.
Future #2
You take a moment to fully recognize something that's very important: right now you're treating your husband like a priority, and he's treating you like an option. That's what you are to him -- one of two options. And then you fully recognize that even though it's not your fault and you didn't ask for this, this dynamic is not acceptable in any marriage that you're willing to be a part of. It's sad, unexpected, and hurts a lot -- but you recognize in your heart of hearts that you cannot exist as a wife in that kind of marriage.
So you start the 180, beginning the next time you see your husband. You're not mean or cold, you're just calm, distant, stoic. You feel at peace. You breathe calmly. You squeeze a little lemon into a glass of water and take a drink, with a little smile on your face.
You stop asking your husband his whereabouts. You stop talking to him about the affair, past details or current. You stop yelling, fighting, begging, imploring. You're not critical or judgmental. You stop saying I love you, you don't hug or allow yourself to be hugged (just politely say "no thank you"). You don't give gifts, schedule dates, tell him you miss him, tell him he's cute, etc. You don't do any of that. Again -- you're not mean! You are cheerful, outgoing, independent.
No matter what you're feeling inside, *this* is the you that you allow your spouse to see. The cheerful, outgoing, independent, happy you.
You meet friends for lunch and have a great time. You go for walks, put effort into old hobbies or new ones.
You make those plans to travel back to Canada. And you look into the divorce process, get the papers, start filling them out. Don't be afraid, this is a process that you can stop at any time.
In short, you move on with your life. And by taking these steps, it won't be just an act -- you're actually moving forward!
****
Scary, huh? But maybe doable?
That's what the 180 looks like. I want to be clear that it is *not* intended to be a manipulation tactic to trick your husband into choosing you over his girlfriend. But it is a tactic (or series of tactics) designed to help you regain control of your situation and to help you move forward in positive, healthy ways.
That said, a perfectly-implemented 180 often has the added "bonus" of really waking up a WS. Probably within 24-48 hours, he will notice the change in your attitude and behaviors. When he asks about it, you simply say "It's clear to me that you've decided not to give up your girlfriend. So I'm figuring out the best ways to move forward with my life." And variations on that response.
When he gets weirder or more specific, or it appears his behaviors are changing or he's being more manipulative...or even if it starts to look like he's "waking up," feeling remorseful, losing the girlfriend, "choosing you"...you keep the same attitude and behaviors going but come back here for advice.
Then, when the time is right and if you feel like it's the right move for you, you can make a decision about whether or not you're willing to try to reconcile with this man. He'll have to be giving a lot for that to be the healthy choice for you, but ultimately it will be your choice, and you'll be making it in a much clearer, more mindful set of circumstances.
And if he doesn't get there, well then you'll already be well on your way to rebuilding your life. Without children in the picture, this will be an easier process than you think.
What do you think, ZoeS? Do you think you could try the 180 and see what happens? REALLY put effort into sticking with it for a few days? Everyone here can tell you from experience: if your goal is really to salvage a relationship with this man, the things you're doing now will not work. That's not to say that you *can* save this thing -- that takes two of you doing very hard work for a long time, and you can't control his actions -- but what you're doing now will *only hurt you* in the long run. You have to go another way.