Extramarital Affairs: Not Always Due to Sexual Unsatisfaction

Whenever a person finds out that their partner is cheating on them, or was once involved in an extramarital affair, more often than not, the things you imagine are worse than what actually happened, especially when it comes to their sexual encounters.

Take this case of extramarital affairs, for example, where a woman began an affair with someone who was 15 years younger than her. She described how she felt during the affair, saying that she didn’t feel like herself and that she was actually truly traumatized from it. She talked about how difficult it was for her lover to get an erection, and when they were finally able to have sex, that it was not good at all. In fact, it made her feel worse about herself.

What you have to keep in mind, though, is that what you imagined they had done during the extramarital affair is not necessarily the truth. And that in most cases, it is actually the opposite.

This is a problem that most victims of infidelity encounter – believing that the affair occurred because of a lack of sexual satisfaction in the marriage, and that it is the other person who started the seduction. This is not the case for everyone who has gone through or is going through an extramarital affair. Reasons for engaging in extramarital affairs actually go deeper than just a lack of sexual satisfaction in the relationship most of the time.

Usually, people cheat for personal reasons that have nothing to do with problems regarding their partners or relationships. They are usually problems that go back even before the relationship, and your partner probably had not been able to cope with it properly. Extramarital affairs are never as simple as a bad sex life, and the only way you can get to the bottom of it is if you explore each others’ needs together.

The Other Person: Not to Blame for the Affair?

Finding out about your partner’s affair is difficult, and usually, you start thinking about the other person and what it is that he or she has that made your partner cheat.

Maybe you feel that hearing about the other person will help you understand your partner’s actions, and maybe you even expect to hear about how he or she was tempted and seduced by this person. But what you have to understand is that the affair wasn’t caused by the third person, at least not by himself.

Your partner’s infidelity most probably happened due an issue that he or she is dealing with personally – it may be even something he or she has been dealing with before you got married – and the affair was a way to escape reality along with all the problems and issues that are a part of it.

The affair relationship was based on the idea that the other person represents a sort of freedom from all the responsibilities and obligations your partner has in your relationship, and that is where the attraction stems from.

Letting go of the thought that the other person is the cause of all your marital problems will be a big step in fixing and saving your marriage.

You have to keep in mind that if your partner didn’t have an affair with this particular person, then someone else might have been in the picture as the other person and you would still have been in the same position.

Recreating the Trust You Lost in Your Marriage After Infidelity

Probably one of the biggest issues that couples have to face once infidelity becomes a part of their relationship is how to rebuild the trust that they’ve lost in each other. So what can they do fix that?

Victims of infidelity ask if it’s possible for them to be able to trust their partners the way they used to before the affair, and they wonder if they will ever be able to just relax around their partners and not be suspicious or doubtful regarding their partners’ actions.

Rebuilding or restoring lost trust after infidelity is not an easy thing to do, but one of the things that could help you get through it is to change the things that you want to happen in your life post infidelity and how you see the situation that you are in apart from your partner.

What do you think would it take for you to trust your partner again? Or better yet, to trust him in a different way? Communicate these things to your partner and let him or her know what you are going through. If both of you decide that you want to stay in the relationship and try to make it work, then both of you should make a conscious effort to decide what it would take for both of you to rebuild the trust you lost.

During this time, it’s easy to focus on the negative things that have happened like the lying, betrayal and the actual cheating itself. And although these things shouldn’t be ignored, you shouldn’t concentrate all your energy on them and try to focus your thoughts on the things that are happening around you, the things that need to happen in your relationship, and the things that you want to happen for yourself as well.

It may seem like the hardest possible thing for you to do right now but it’s important that you do it to be aware of the reality of what is happening to you, your partner and your relationship at this very moment. What if you begin to feel that your partner may be having another affair? Will you be able to handle it is he or she is? And is this betrayal something that you can go through all over again? Are you going to tolerate this behavior from your partner?

Decide what you want for yourself and where you draw the line on things that you will put up with. Discuss with your partner the boundaries you need to have in your relationship and stand by the things you want and need for yourself.

It’s time that you think of the possibilities that you have in your life, and decide whether you want those possibilities or not.