Office Extramarital Affairs: How Safe Are You and Your Marriage About Office Affairs?
Most extramarital affairs happen at work, there are reports that around 50% of affairs happen at work. It is not uncommon for a married person to become romantically involved with someone at work. Most of the people spend much of their time at work with their co-workers and the workplace is a perfect place where the romance between colleagues could start. It can be really scary to know that office extramarital affairs are very common.
How do extramarital affairs start at the office?
Office extramarital affairs can start innocently enough through friendship or great chemistry at work. People at work experience the same pressures, difficulties, have common goals, and even celebrate their victories together. They eat together, sometimes travel together, and eventually share or talk not only about work but also about their personal lives. They can develop a great bond and camaraderie by working together every day. They are like soldiers who go to the same battlefield every day and we all know that soldiers often have a strong bond with each other. This camaraderie can develop into something deeper over time, friendship can develop into emotional intimacy, especially for people of the opposite sex. Eventually, they will find themselves comparing their coworker to their spouses and find their coworker more attractive, more supportive, more appreciative, more fun, more exciting, etc. Due to this emotional attachment, they will start sharing feelings and things that they were supposed to share only with their spouses. They may also end up calling or texting each other even after work or, worse yet, meeting in private outside of work. This emotional affair can turn into a physical affair, but while it remains on the level of an emotional affair, it is also a form of cheating and the impact on your marriage is the same as committing sexual infidelity.
No one is safe because an office affair can happen to anyone unless you make a conscious effort to avoid it.
How to protect yourself from an extramarital relationship in the office?
Avoid temptation. Make a conscious effort not to put yourself in a situation where you might be tempted to get involved in an extramarital affair at the office. For example, if a business trip arises, avoid traveling with an office colleague of the opposite sex as much as possible. If traveling with a colleague of the opposite sex is unavoidable, avoid being alone with your coworker when traveling. Don’t just date or befriend co-workers of the opposite sex, but mix your circle of friends with people of the same gender as yours, or preferably have more married couples as friends.
Set limits with co-workers of the opposite sex. Although working with colleagues of the opposite sex cannot be avoided, extramarital affairs in the office can be avoided if you set limits. He’s married and he’s not single anymore and there are things he can’t do now. In everything you do, you have to remember that you are already married. To be emotionally intimate with a co-worker of the opposite sex is to disrespect and cheat on your spouse. Always put yourself in your spouse’s shoes and ask yourself if what you are going to do or say with your colleague could affect your marriage.
Have a regular date night and talk with your spouse. The routine of a married life can make marriage less exciting. Sometimes couples are so preoccupied with their work and household responsibilities that romance takes a backseat. To avoid extramarital affairs at the office, have a regular date night and one-on-one time with your spouse to better communicate and strengthen your marriage.
Be open and honest with your spouse. People who keep secrets with their spouses are more likely to reveal the secret to their office mates and this could turn into something romantic if they are of the opposite sex. Avoid the temptation to confide in friends at work by being open and honest with your spouse. If you’re getting close to an office mate of the opposite sex, it’s best to discuss it with your spouse to prevent things from getting out of hand.
Make your spouse your best friend. Your spouse is not just your spouse, but can also be your best friend. No one can love and protect you more than your spouse, which is why your spouse is the perfect best friend you can ever have. Friends go through difficulties together, play together, and celebrate together, so do these things with your spouse and not with someone else outside of your marriage. Of course, in addition to growing together, it’s also beneficial to grow individually and do things with other people besides your spouse, but as mentioned above, set your limits, and while you can have fun with other people, your best friend should always be your spouse. . If your spouse is your best friend, office extramarital affairs will not find their way to you.
Value your marriage. Spouses are tempted to cheat because they don’t value their marriage very much. It is important that after God, the most important thing in your life is your marriage, after all, it is a union blessed by the Higher Power. If you value your marriage, you won’t do anything to dishonor it and you won’t ruin your spouse’s trust. Engaging in an extramarital affair at the office is not only disrespectful to your marriage, it puts it at risk. Infidelity is the leading cause of divorce and if you don’t want to experience the pain of divorce, you have to avoid office extramarital affairs.