Hi. Not in a very good place right now. Lots of jumbled thoughts, most of them unkind, so this will be very disjointed and somewhat of a downer. Apologies in advance.
Just came back from STD / HIV testing. Talk about humiliating. Thanks, dear. Should get results, including HIV early detection next week. Even if negative (please, please God), I was told I need to go back in 2 months. Wonderful.
I really, really want to thank you all for your posts of support and advice. A good many of you have complimented me undeservingly. I appreciate the sentiments, but I really didn't do anything that you hadn’t already told me to do. I came on here in pure desperation and in full blown panic mode having no clue how to handle any of this or my emotions and feelings. Hence my name and thread title. You all jumped in immediately with caring, and support and advice. I simply followed in your footsteps – collected ideas and information that you all unfortunately lived through and coalesced what you told me into an actionable game plan and then executed it – to varying degrees of success. This is what I do at work. Gather information, analyze, create strategies and plans, set up a process, timeline, organization, etc. and then implement it. So all of your advice really, really helped. From suggesting I read everything, the 180, Linda MacDonald’s book, eating, sleeping, even calling POS’s wife. I went back and looked. It wasn’t my idea – ReconciledGuy88 said that all cheaters lie (well – duh) and that everything POS said needs to be verified and he suggested that POS might be married. I never would have thought of that, but his post put the idea in my head to Google him. And once I found him with a woman’s name attached I, was like, “son-of-a b***h!” So thank you. Because all your posts paying it forward really, really helped me and guided me and gave me solace and a kick in the pants. All I did was listen to you. So thank you. You are good people. It’s nice to know there are those in the world.
Anyway, I’m also saying this because while things may be progressing – although I can’t really see it from my end – I do feel like an abject failure. See, my family is the most important thing to me, not my career. My wife. My kids. And I made a lot of sacrifices for them. Quick example. I went to one of the top 5 business schools in the country, some years ranked #1. However, I did not go into investment banking or consulting, purely so I wouldn’t have to work crazy hours or on the weekends. So I could build a family. I’m not saying this to boast or show how smart I am. My point is I had tremendous financial opportunities. I’m sure some of you know what Goldman offers as a pay package. When I graduated, getting a job from them or Morgan Stanley, Merrill, McKinsey, BCG, or another top tier bank or consulting firm was easy. I mean easy. I turned it down. So I could be home with them. And look where it got me. I failed. Yeah – the affair is her, not me, I get it (I don’t – I just keep telling myself that – maybe one day I’ll believe it). But whether we divorce or reconcile, my marriage is dead. Either it’s over or it’s something new, and not necessarily better. And so I really don’t feel very good about myself. People have said I’m doing great. Thank you, but if this is great, I don’t want to know what bad looks like. Sorry, getting melancholy and pissy. Told you I wasn’t doing well.
Got a text from my SIL. Said last night was really rough and my wife was an emotional wreck. Couldn’t be consoled. Boo hoo. I feel like Bruce Willis in Die Hard, “Welcome to the party, pal!” I quote movie lines and crack jokes. It’s how I deal. Hope that’s okay.
Oh – some of you mentioned my writing and my perhaps over-sharing. I speak in front of large audiences regularly and have written hundreds of memos. This comes easily to me. I mean, the writing. Not what I’m writing. That part has been pure torture. But I force myself to do it. Anyway, I don’t mean to sound selfish, but I write these posts for my own therapy / coping mechanism. A way to vent and let things out in an anonymous place, and to seek advice. That’s why I’m so open here, cause I’m letting it all out. All my thoughts, warts and all. I hope I’m not overdoing it or sharing too much, or violating some unwritten forum rule. Please let me know if I am. However, if my posts, or crazy thought processes, or venting is able to help someone…well, that would be really nice. That something positive comes out of my suck.
A few of you have mentioned about my brother catching her. I don’t believe in coincidences. I prefer to think of it as Providence. Maybe it was my dad pushing things in the right direction. I don’t know. She was brazen, so if not him, maybe someone else would have seen her or I would have finally woken up and seen that something was amiss. However, the fact that if he hadn’t she’d still be f***ing that POS right now, is not lost on me. It’s just that I’m not going down that rabbit hole just yet because frankly, I truly cannot deal with these thoughts. I'm exhausted and feel like I'm hanging on to reality by a thread and that's I’ll just break if I let these thoughts take over. But I have such a hard time not thinking. I’m sorry. I’m going to step away now. I need to collect myself. I’m meeting with the attorney tonight. I’ll let you know how that goes. And I’m taking off work tomorrow. Don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m going to try and not deal with any of this tomorrow. Take a break if my head will let me.
Thank you again for all of your posts, advice, support, well-wishes, 2x4's, guidance, and encouragement. I read it all. Many times over. It really helps. Thank you.
[This message edited by Walloped at 12:44 PM, August 11th (Tuesday)]