Been a while, but the cycle continues
Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. The things that have happened... and the stories I could tell! There has been heartbreak, anguish, and believe it or not, joy. My wife/ex-wife/wife is at the core of it all. There is too much to tell. Too many details of hopes, betrayals, promises again, feelings running the whole gamut. To completely over-simplify:
1) my wife became unhappy with her life
2) she tried to make a new life with someone while we were still married
3) we divorced with me having primary custody of our two boys
4) she realized what a horrible person the guy was, that I was what she wanted after all, and that she screwed everything up
5) she worked my unresolved love for her with promises of exactly the right things
6) we remarried with renewed commitment and her in therapy to make major life changes
7) the honeymoon phase began to fade with her as life intruded with challenges
8) she got a new job, made new friends and met new people (I assume guys too)
9) now she is unhappy, cold, distant, and hiding things from me
10) THE CYCLE IS UNBROKEN
I will tell you that she has agreed to marriage counseling, but that is only because I gave her an ultimatum. She is only worried what a second divorce so quickly on the heels of the first would do to our children. I agree it will be traumatic and something I never imagined I would put my children through. I do think that watching her become bitter and hateful to their father and eventually getting caught as she decides once again to create a new life or side life for herself would be infinitely worse. My children do not know what happened in the first divorce. They only know their father has been in love with their mother every day of their lives.
I will invest everything into this counseling. I DO very much want this to work. I can live with any of her flaws as I know that I am flawed myself. I only want to know that she loves me, not just at that moment, but to be absolutely secure that no matter what happens, she will love me tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, week, month, year... I need to know we are not headed for a trainwreck of an undetermined ETA. That trust may be something I offer to her, but she will have to give it substance, life, and longevity.
One thing is different this time. I know that saving this marriage is not something that I can do or have failed to do. I may have made good-hearted mistakes or made her endure my irritating flaws, but I have been investing all my heart, effort, and soul into being the best husband I could possibly be for her. If this fails, I will be heartbroken, but I have found a serenity in my role in the past and faith that the Lord will make everything okay in the future. Meanwhile I will keep trying, and keep praying.
Replies
It is without doubt that your wife fails to love herself and, I'm certain she has a valid although more than likely illogical reason for so doing.
I am almost certain, therefore to a lesser degree that you fail to love yourself.
If you love yourself you are lovable, you lead by example, you are also loving and, you 100% KNOW it.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to love someone properly if you fail to love yourself, so champ stop focusing for now wasted energy on your wife and, instead turn it upon yourself.
The greatest love of all is of self, no doubt whatsoever.
Thank you for the kind words and reminder to love myself. You are absolutely correct in saying my wife struggles to love herself. I disagree that my love for her is ever wasted but I can understand that perspective. I will however look for ways to enjoy more me time. Thanks for generously extending insight and advice to me.
Good luck with the counseling. I hope you get everything you want in your marriage. I will keep you and your family in my prayers.
Thank you for the prayers. You and your family are still on my prayers. My wife has made some nice improvement in the past few days. Some of the problems are definitely issues and insecurities that I need to overcome and heal. I am really looking forward to counseling and working through both our issues.