Susan is in the same place many of you are — trying to decide which is better, staying in a bad marriage, or going out into the great unknown. Her husband has cheated throughout their marriage and she’s at a point of total unhappiness. She’s afraid to leave because of the financial security she would lose and she’s not sure she could improve her life by leaving.
Here’s what I told her:
You know what you have if you stay. If that is what you want out of life, then make the decision to accept him as he is and develop your life so that he isn’t the center of it. Counseling would probably help.
If this isn’t how you want to spend the rest of your life, then you must be prepared to leap into the unknown and see what life is without him.
Single parenting can be very rewarding for the single parent and the children. That’s assuming the single parent is a whole person and not an ’empty half’ looking for someone to make them whole. Kids can survive a lot and they can learn a lot of valuable lessons along the way.
Which do you think will produce the best maturity? A home with a value system based upon material possessions, creature comforts, infidelity and alcoholism or a home with sharing, caring, and a happy parent? Your kids are learning by your example. And by his.
It’s your life. Isn’t it time to reclaim it? Stay or go. It’s your decision. Either one may be the one that works the best for you. Good luck.