You have likely encountered real life stories that touch your heart strings. One that touched mine concerned the performer Shania Twain. She faced the challenge of facing a spouse cheating on her the as she struggled with Lyme disease.
Prior to her medical condition, her career was promising. She was attractive and going places. She won five emmys and was the preeminent female entertainer.
Her face was on commercials, her songs were getting airplay. At that point, the world was hers.
Things changed when she was struck with Lyme disease. When her conditioned worsened, she found herself losing control of her body and her marriage. Lyme disease is savage. It wipes out your strength.
As she struggled with her illness and its crippling effects, her spouse cheated on her. She had fame and fortune, but it didn’t protect her from infidelity.
At the time she needed her husband’s support, he wasn’t there. She was left a physical wreck and her marriage was broken.
I suppose that her spouse didn’t remember his wedding vows about ‘in sickness and in health’. He made the choice to cheat. She trusted him. He was not only her husband, but also her producer.
He got was he wanted, yet wanted MORE.
In my mind, cheating on an ailing spouse is one of the lowest things you can do. This is why it pulls on my heart strings. I know spouses of someone with health issues have struggles as well, but that doesn’t excuse their solution to their situation.
Shania struggled with what to do. The feelings were intense.
“Getting a divorce with the person that you work with for 15 years of your life, is getting a divorce from every element of your life.”
Her situation has some lessons for your marriage as well.
No amount of money or fame can protect you from sudden health problems.
No amount of money or fame can prevent an affair from impacting your marriage.
I’ve also seen that even in the Christian community that espoused values don’t prevent affairs. What is said about valuing marriage and commitment doesn’t always translate to fidelity during illness.
Although you can’t keep an affair from happening, you can do something to turn your marriage around. At the Restored Lifestyle membership site, you can begin talking about what happened. You can share your struggles with others in privacy.
Membership also gives you access to programs guiding you through recovery from the affair. You can know what to talk about, when to discuss it and how to bring it up. You’ll also know how to deal with the traumatic effects of the affair.
Affair trauma makes any health problem worse. You can know what reduces the effects of such traumas.
Your marriage doesn’t have to stay wrecked and broken. There are things you can do that change the relationship the two of you have.
Shania’s money also didn’t protect her from the struggle and pain. You can learn from her life and make your marriage better.
Keeping It Real,
Jeff
