I simply think I've reached a stage where I need to get advice from others on what the initial steps forward looked like for them so that I know what to expect.
This is going to take time. Although the path we all take for recovery may be the same, you cannot expect your recovery process to look the same as others.
We will help guide you if you're patient with us and with your wife.
What you must first understand is, recovery is not an event, it's a plan for a new way of living.
It's not 6 easy steps and then your done..... It's forever steps that are refined as time passes. But you can only do it one day at a time.
I understand fully the hurt that I caused because I've been on the opposite end of such pain albeit not whilst being married and I know that the pain I've caused is 100 times worst.
Unless you've been abandoned and thrown out like the trash by your wife, all the while knowing she was having sex with some drugged POS OM for month after month without one shred of concern for how it affected you and your children.....
You really have no understanding of the pain she has endured.
I know you mean no harm saying this, but it will cause your W to endure great pain if you maintain that you "understand" how she feels.
..... but the point is that we decided to follow the narrow path to recovery and once I put my mind to something I'm fully into it. To not be that way is to set myself up for failure.
Although you and I may see this as admirable....
This scares the hell' out of our BS's
You and I both demonstrated that when we put our mind to shutting out our wife's, we were fully into it!
When we set our minds to letting another person meet our needs, we were fully into it!
See what I mean?
Don't expect a pat on the back from your wife for having this A-Type personality. Yes we may be driven, but without the proper boundaries, our drive will lead off straight off of cliffs..... And our wives will always have the memories of what they experienced because of this self will run riot.
Stay focused on what YOU need to do for recovery. Do NOT expect anything from your wife for a long time.
Yes I have had a couple angry outbursts.
You do not have the luxury of AO's any more. Your wife shouldn't let you back in her life until these have been eliminated!
You asked about Just Compensation..... Read the articles on this web site, not just the forum. You can use the search tab and find them by typing in the key word you want to know more about.
Are you still drinking or smoking weed or using any drugs? Even casually?