Are you Having an Emotional Affair?: How to Recognize and Prevent Emotional Affairs in Your Marriage.

Often when people think of an affair, they think of something physical. But lurking around every corner is an opportunity for emotional affairs. They seem innocent on the surface, but they can be extremely damaging.

An emotional affair is a close or intimate relationship with someone outside of your marriage. Typically you share your thoughts and emotions with this person, you have common likes/dislikes, or you may tell them about your dreams, secrets, and fantasies. This emotional attachment can quickly turn into something more, as It creates thoughts of, “wow! This person is special or different than my spouse.” You are in it deep when that person starts to take up a lot of your heart and head space.

Jesus warns us about this in the Bible. In Matthew 5:27-28 is says “You have heard that it was said ‘You shall not commit adultery. But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

So what are the signs of an emotional affair and what can we do to safeguard our hearts and prevent emotional affairs from affecting our marriages? These guidelines below are for any couple who wants to protect their marriage, not just people who have experienced an affair within their marriage.

Signs of an emotional affair and why they are dangerous:

• Mind shift- This person begins to occupy space in your mind.  Your thoughts, dreams, and even fantasies begin to include them, and its almost always at the expense of excluding your spouse.

• Time Shift- This is when you crave to be around the other person, and you start to change where you spend your time. Often you are wherever the other person is… the gym, work, etc. This leads to prioritizing time with the other person over your spouse.

• Emotional Shift- You crave a deeper connection with the other person and start to care about them more than you do a friend or co-worker. Emotions start to develop and they are fuel to the emotional affair fire, motivating us to spend our time and energy on this person. It is in this shift that emotions get harder and harder to resist.

• Intimacy Shift- You are now desiring to be involved with this person in the deepest parts of your life. Going on adventures together, being in a relationship, and fantasizing of sexual activities.

The shifting process happens quickly, and it is like quicksand. It is a dangerous situation to be in with someone who isn’t your spouse, especially if the other person involved is unaware of your thoughts and feelings towards them. That puts everyone in an awkward position.

How to prevent emotional affairs:

• Stop walking in the denial. See the situation for what it is versus telling yourself “Its not that big of a deal”.

• Don’t be ignorant: Just because you aren’t having feelings or fantasies about someone, doesn’t mean they aren’t taking your relationship the wrong way. You offering a listening ear, or inviting that specific co-worker to lunch could indicate to them that you are interested in pursuing a closer relationship.
  

How to protect yourself and your marriage from emotional affairs:

• Prioritize your spouse: Make regular time for them - whether it’s date nights or meaningful conversations.

• Maintain open communication: Be open and honest in your communication with your spouse. Are you doing a daily check-in to see how they are doing or how their day was? Communication is key and check-ins can make your spouse feel heard, appreciated, and cared for.

• Set healthy boundaries: Establish boundaries with friends, co-workers, and people of the opposite sex. Think of it as putting up a picket fence up around your marriage - no one can get in without going through the gate. Be a good “gatekeeper”! You can also follow the “Billy Graham Rule”, which is something some spouses practice by not allowing themselves to dine, travel, or go out to an event with a person of the opposite sex without their spouse with them. This eliminates the chances for the emotional attachment to grow in an unhealthy way, and it prevents people from talking about you if they see you in public with another man or woman.

• Nurture your marriage: Invest in activities that strengthen your bond with your spouse - feed into each other. This could look like going to the movies, participating in your spouse’s hobbies, dinner out or at home, etc.

• Seek Help: Not from your family and friends, who tend to take sides in situations like this. Seek professional help from someone who can call you out, tell you what you NEED to hear, and help you work through it.

Matthew 19: 4-6 says, “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Separation causes wounds, and when a marriage is separated due to an emotional affair, people get hurt.

Our Challenge to you is to give yourself an honest assessment of your thoughts. Where are they at? Who are you thinking about?

To hear more on this topic and to learn more about protecting our marriage from emotional affairs, listen to episode 289 of the Rock Solid Families Podcast.

On this episode, Merrill and Linda Hutchinson of Rock Solid Families dive deeper into the topic of emotional affairs, provide realistic examples of what it may look like in your marriage, and elaborate on how to protect your marriage from the damaging effects.

To hear more content related to family, marriage, and relationships, subscribe to the Rock Solid Families Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcast.

Man Caves and She Sheds

Would Jesus Have a Man Cave?
If Jesus was alive today, do you think he would have a Man Cave? You probably have never thought about this before, but would he?  You won’t find any specific references of Jesus’ man cave in the Bible, but if you dig a little deeper you will find Jesus seeking out what people long for in a man cave or she shed-a place of peace.  There are so many men and women who seek a place where they can collect their thoughts and unwind from the stresses of the day.  Jesus frequently did the same thing leaving the crowd or chaos and seeking a quiet place to pray.  

A Place of Peace is Important
Like Jesus, we need to take time to take care of ourselves and find that place of peace. We need to have healthy habits and routines in our day to nourish and rest our mind, body, and soul.  For this reason, it is no wonder that the terms She Shed and Man Cave have come to be.  Essentially, these are places where we can seek peace and connect with our thoughts.  These terms may be somewhat new, but the concept is not.  A She Shed may be a literal shed in the back yard or a quiet room in the house.  It’s a place where women like to go and escape from the noise of life.  Maybe she gardens, does crafts, artwork, or just reads.  The point is she finds a time and place to rebuild and take care of herself.  As for the Man Cave, maybe it’s a workshop, garage, home gym, or a barn to hang out in.  Maybe it is an office space where you retreat to.  Whatever the case, men desire a place to rejuvenate as well.  

Moderation is Critical
Man Caves and She Sheds can be good things, but when used for the wrong reason or without moderation, they can become a negative thing for the family. For example, when dad comes home from work instead of going into the house to interact with the family, he immediately retreats to his shop.  He has the shop set up with the basics such as snacks and drinks, maybe even a tv and bathroom.  This set up sounds good to many of us, but it may very well be detrimental to the relationship with his wife and kids.  A fully furnished man cave leaves little reason for a husband or dad to ever have to interact with his family.  Often, you’ll see the other spouse start to complain and resent their spouse’s little hideaway. 

The idea of a Man Cave or She Shed may sound good on the surface, but be careful why and when it is used.  At Rock Solid Families, we see couples running and hiding from each other on a regular basis.  They avoid interaction with each other due to years of poor communication and conflict resolution skills. Hurt, resentment, and hardening of the heart build until one or the other spouse starts to believe the marriage is beyond repair. 

Communication is Key
Man Caves and She Sheds can serve a valuable purpose in our mental or physical health, but if the marriage and your communication are not solid, then it is likely that these places of refuge are doing more harm than good.  Do yourself a favor, tend to the marriage and family and you will find your Man Caves and She Sheds far more rewarding and enjoyable for everyone in the family.   

Click HERE to listen to the full episode of Man Caves and She Sheds

Click HERE to watch the full episode of Man Caves and She Sheds

Teaching Kids to Communicate

You’ve all seen it and maybe even participated in it. A family sitting at the dinner table; several children and parents intensely communicating, but not with each other.  Instead they are all communicating with a digital screen! You’ll see them smiling, frowning, staring-all at a device instead of those around the table with them. This has become so commonplace that we don’t question it anymore. For many, it has become a cultural norm.  

In my blog today, I’m not going to bash the digital age we are living in.  Instead, I want to focus on what we, especially our children, know about how to communicate.  Communication is a necessity of life. The forms of communication we use seem straight forward, but are they?  

The forms and their frequency are the things that are changing.  Face to face communication where you see someone’s face and body is actually becoming less and less frequent. The need for us to meet someone in person to perform a particular task has greatly diminished. We don’t have to visit a store to shop, or go to a school to be taught. We don’t have to go to church to hear the preacher’s message or even attend the sporting event to see the event. We are now able to experience these things in our house and never even interact with a single person face to face.  Let’s be honest, we love the convenience and comfort that this provides us, but at what expense?

Over the years, researchers have made claims that over 90% of our communication is nonverbal; facial expression, body language, voice tone, etc… These numbers seem pretty extreme and in fact more recent research suggest that the difference between nonverbal and verbal communication percentages are more influenced by the situation.  Listening to a book on audio is certainly much more verbally effective than nonverbal, but having a face to face disagreement can be significantly more nonverbal. With that being said, researchers agree that nonverbal communication is significant, and often much more important than the words we use.

So, how are you teaching your children to communicate?  If the primary communication they use is looking at a digital screen and reading words, they likely are missing a huge portion of the message.  This is why we frequently see messages getting misinterpreted or misunderstood. “No, I didn’t mean that, I was just joking around.”

I encourage you to be intentional about teaching your children how to communicate.  When I teach lessons on communication to young students the first thing I teach is to know your audience.   Yes, before you say a word, you should know who you are talking to. Age, gender, energy level, mood, interest level, etc… We have all had great teachers and not so great teachers.  One of the primary skills that I quickly identify in a great teacher is their ability to read their audience prior and while teaching. A great teacher does a quick inventory on the audience and looks for the general mood, attention, interest, and energy of the crowd.  If the audience is reflecting positive attention and interest, then as the teacher, you quickly seize the opportunity and teach with the same energy. If you notice tired or somber faces and you ignore that message, there is a big chance that you are quickly going to lose your audience and before you know it, you will be preaching to the walls.  

Great teachers know their material, but make rapid adjustments to keep their audience engaged.  Reading body language, voice tones, and facial expressions, is part skill and part intuition. Some teachers just seem to be naturals, while others need to be trained and practiced in these skills.  Here’s the good news, these are skills that can be learned, practiced, and significantly improved.

How do you teach your children to read their audience and be effective communicators?  As mentioned earlier, some of them will be naturals, but all can benefit from learning and practicing three simple techniques.

1. Audience Check. Teach your child to observe and read their teachers and others every day.  Each day when your child walks into the classroom, one of the first things they should do is take notice of the people they encounter, especially their teacher.  Is the teacher appearing to be happy, sad, tired, irritated, etc… If your child walks into the classroom and stares at the ground, they likely will miss one of the most important messages necessary to start their day off right.

2. Greet and Check. Teach them to initiate the first greeting.  As soon as they walk in the classroom and take notice of the people, they follow up with a simple greeting.  “Hi Mrs. Smith!”, or better yet, “Hi Mrs. Smith, how are you today?”  Wow!   Guess what is about to happen?  Because the child took an interest in the teacher, the teacher is going to respond not just with a verbal word, but a mood, and an energy through her nonverbal clues.  More importantly, most of the time the teacher will return the interest.  I’m doing great this morning! How are you doing?”   This is so important!  Now, not only does your child have basic information about the teacher, but the teacher now gathers information about the student.  If this is done on a daily basis, it will not be long before the teacher and student have a greater depth to their understanding and interaction with each other.  

3. Clarity Check. Teach them the skill of seeking clarity of the message.  When they hear, see, and recognize the teacher’s message, test understanding. For example:  

Student: Hi Mrs. Smith! How are you?”

Mrs. Smith: In a low and quiet voice - “I’m okay.”

Clarity Check-

Student: “Mrs. Smith, you seem a little tired today”. Is everything okay?”

WOW!  Now the student is not just engaging, but seeking to gain greater understanding. This shows the student investing and taking an interest in the teacher. The teacher will typically seek to clarify the message, and consciously or subconsciously, they will feel a greater interest and empathy for this student. Practice these same skills on a daily basis in your house.  Every day have your child practice checking in with you when they walk in the door.  Have them notice, greet, and clarify understanding of the people in the house, especially their parents.   

Effective communication and interaction with others is a lifelong skill that your child will use every day of their life. This is tremendously powerful in teaching your child to invest in the interest of others, rather than just themselves.  Next time you think about giving your child their tablet when they walk in the house, stop and spend some time teaching them to be Masters of Communication not Disasters of Communication!