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385 Views 2 Replies Last post: Feb 8, 2010 5:23 PM by JimVFOTF RSS
seekingtruth Community Member 4 posts since
Feb 8, 2010
Currently Being Moderated

Feb 8, 2010 12:28 PM

How to trust and believe

Hello, I have been married for 19 years, 3 1/2 years ago I found out that my husband had a one night stand only a year after we were married. Also right before he confessed this to me I discovered he looked in the "erotic"section on craigslist. I have never in all our relationship come across anything before like this. I always trusted my husband and we always have shared the same email and computer, I also though had never checked history either but we were having some issues not related to any of this but I checked history and found it 2 x. He had a explanation for it but if he wasn't trying to hide something then I feel he should have just came to me with his explanation, but anyways I'm sure that people have sent him inappropriate emails and such and not that he ever tried hiding them from me I never really saw much, he couldn't really hide it unless he got there first but if I did I would have seen, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that I dont' think he's ever looked for porn but I think if it was sent to him or inappropriate images he probablly saw and deleted them. I have come a very long way since finding out about the infidelity, I still have trust issues and it's now mainly I feel very insecure when he's around females, like when his clients are females or if a female comes over with one of his clients I just feel like he wants to check them out. Or when he goes out riding other riders hook up with each other and they are mainly men but sometimes a wife or girlfriend could be in the group and I worry about that. The other thing I'm really struggling with is believing that when he does come across inappropriate images he clicks right out of them, he always tells me when he comes across something on the computer but I can't know if he looked at it for awhile or not. Since he has had friends send some pretty nasty inappropriate videos and images he doesn't open emails from these people, these people have been told not to send them but they seem to "forget", when we watch tv he always turns away when bikins come and stuff but I worry about when I'm not there if he does the same thing, he says he does but I just don't know, i want to believe him but he could do it and be lusting and I'd never know.  Plus I don't know what's too inappropriate or not, for instance we were watching a completely innocent show about ocean animals and it showed a couple women in bikinis and the animal biting her, it wasn't about the women in their suits but should all men turn away at all this stuff? I dont' want to go overboard but then I'm just afraid what he could be thinking. I know what he does is between him and God but I still feel like I just wish I could know if he watched stuff he shouldn't, I don't want to get hurt again and even if he's lusting in his heart that would tear me apart. How do I get past these things? thank you and sorry it's so long.
Tags: communication_spouse
alexcarter5150 Community Member 1 posts since
Feb 8, 2010
Currently Being Moderated
1. Feb 8, 2010 7:30 PM in response to: seekingtruth
Re: How to trust and believe

Ok Seeking.  Sorry to be so blunt, this being the first reply and all but....

 

1.  All men look and enjoy looking.  Thats how we're built.

2.  If we say we don't it's because we are trying to avoid hurting your feelings because we actually do care about you and on some level know that it would upset you if we said we did.

3.  Looking at other women can be taken to the exteme just like any other thing, ie...drinking, eating, overworking.

4.  I have never met a man that is "grossed out" by porn... That's why the business is so huge.  It does not make it right, but they are appealing to a very basic pleasure center of the male brain.  Like I said before, it can be taken to the exrteme and men should make a conscious effort to avoid it because it's a dangerous road that it leads to, but he is still, on some level, aroused by it.

5.  And this is important....He does not love you any less if he sees a beautiful woman and recognizes that.  As long as men have eyes they will like the site of alluring women.  It is a man's continual battle not to indulge in erotic imagery.  Your man can't help that he likes to see beautiful women.   If you are watching tv together and a commercial comes on and he has to look away and then you are there checking to make sure that he has then what kind of relationship do you have?  would that be a husband wife, equal partner kind of relationship or a parent child type of relationship.  Most men don't want to be married to their mother, or someone that makes them feel like a child. 

6. Please stop trying to diagnose what is going on inside his head...you'll drive yourself crazy (and him too in the process).

7.  Finally...Men shuold not be indulging in Porn (soft or hardcore).  Images will come across and it is our battle not to let our apetite get the best of us.  We should not be seeking this stuff out.  It really is a sick world and the Porn industry is working very hard to draw us in.  A man is going to cheat or not (or look at porn) or not based on his decision, not based on whether his spouse keeps close tabs on him.

 

Message was edited by: Moderator

JimVFOTF Focus Employee 296 posts since
Jun 1, 2007
Currently Being Moderated
2. Feb 8, 2010 7:40 PM in response to: seekingtruth
Re: How to trust and believe

Dear seekingtruth,

 

I appreciate your posting about the insecurity that you feel when your husband is around females.  It is understandable that you question what he is thinking and that you do not want to be hurt again.  Your husband’s infidelity early in your marriage, coupled with his more recent inquiries in the erotic section of craigslist, has created a scenario where he must re-earn your trust.

 

Trust can be earned back in a variety of ways. Each way involves demonstrating his integrity repeatedly. One way that he has already earned some of your trust is your believe there are no further instances of internet infidelity.  Other ways that he could demonstrate integrity might include attending counseling sessions together, sharing his boundaries when relating to other women, and finding an accountability partner to keep his thought life pure.  Two resources you might find helpful would be Nothing to Hide and Help! Someone I Know Has a Problem with Porn.You can access counseling referrals in your area from our website, or speak to one of our licensed counselors.

 

Sincerely.

 

Jim, Ph.D.

Focus on the Family Counselor

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