Ask Charles: "I was cheated on, and now I'm insecure..."
I was married for 11 years to the man I share four kids with. The marriage ended after he had an affair with a woman who used to be a friend of mine (and who he is now married to). I have recently started dating a man after being single for seven years, and he is a wonderful man, who loves spending time with me — and vice versa — and even taking time to get to know my children when we see each other. We live an hour away from each other and I have never had a long distance relationship before. My question to you is: How do I get over my insecurity, and thinking he's going to do the same thing to me as my ex-husband did?
Can men and women be friends... only?
Platonic relationships. Can a man and a woman just be friends, without sex entering into the mix? I asked a number of people from all walks of life—including a number of relationship and dating experts—and the responses have been very interesting.
Of the 100+ people I spoke with / received responses from, many claimed their were in relationships—close relationships—with members of the opposite sex… and have never crossed the line into romantic territory. But what about primal instincts? What about when one or both do enter a romantic relationship?
Divorce-proof your marriage
Divorce is all the rage. Prenumps, Hollywood-style relationships that end after 72 days... the notion that marriage is a temporary institution isn't new. Sociologist and futurist Alvin Toffler wrote the best-seller Future Shock in 1970, and with matter-of-fact conviction, he wrote of the rising trend of "trial" or "temporary marriages"—first marriages of young people, lasting three months to three years, and of "serial marriages" that would take place after the dissolution of the "trial marriage," happening at specific turning points in people's lives.