Monday, 29 December 2014

Marriage & Relationships



The Other Woman

My take on attacking the ‘other woman’ for your husband’s infidelity

“I sincerely believe that women who are married should spend more time and energy making their marriages great so that their husbands will have no reason to cheat, and should focus on effective ways to deal with their husband infidelity instead of attacking the other woman”.  – Judith Adaobiihuoma Udeke


Who is the other woman? 

I find it very interesting that a lot of married women think of ‘the other woman’ as this husband snatching female whose sole aim in life is to get their man.   To these women ‘the other woman’ is loose, she is easy, she stepped up to the man, maybe because she saw he was married and she just loves dating another woman’s husband.  News flash!  The rules of dating have not changed since you married him.  It’s still boy meet girl, boy asks girl out, girl says yes, and the dating starts.

Even when some of these women are faced with this fact they continue to say, why did she accept to date him knowing he is married.  She is a blah, blah, and blah.    And they go on to verbally and sometimes physically attack the other woman.  I would like to say at this point that sometimes these “other women” do not know the man is married when they start a relationship with him but that really is besides the point here. 

Why do women choose to pile the blame on the other women for the sins of their husbands?  Yes the other woman sins too by having sex with your husband but her sin should not be your problem, you are not in any kind of relationship with her.  You would hear these women quote the bible and sanctimoniously tell the other woman that she should know better.  “As a woman they should know the implications of blah blah blah” you will hear these women say.  Here is a bit of religious knowledge for you, unless this ‘other woman’ is herself married, your husband is the only one that has disobeyed one of the ten commandments so focus on that as you preach sister.  Also if this ‘other woman’ has never been married and therefore never taken a marriage vow, she knows absolutely nothing about the sanctity of a marriage relationship.  Actually I take that back, she knows as much about your marriage as the fact that your husband disregard it enough to first court then date her.  Think about that for a minute.


Attacking the other woman has been proven to be an ineffective way to deal with a cheating husband.  Lets take a look at some examples that are already out their in the media.  The case of Switz Beats wife vs. Alicia Keys.   Beats’ wife took the attack/confront/talk to “the other woman” route in dealing with her husband’s infidelity and today she is trying to get along with the other woman who is now the wife for the sake of her children.   You can find her Open Letter to Alicia Keys here.  She wrote it shortly before her divorce was final and I don’t think it did her marriage any good. 

Lets look at the case of Hilary Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.  I did not find any open letters or news of any communication Mrs. Clinton initiated with Ms. Lewinsky.  Maybe that is the reason she is still Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Beats is now the former “other woman”.  At this juncture I hear some of you saying that its because Mr. Clinton and Mr. Beats, have different values, different upbringing, or different lifestyles.  Well that is a nice transition to the crux of my message.  Whether a man decides to marry the other woman or not is going to depend primarily on the man, just like whether a man decides to cheat on his wife or not is going to depend primarily on the man.

Knowing and remembering this fact, a married woman should refrain from attacking the other woman when her husband cheats, instead should focus on her husband and her marriage to find reasons for the infidelity and a way forward plan.   I believe that our men are falling short in being Christian and Moral leaders in their family and in the society because of how the world insist on painting a picture that Jesus or God the father appointed women as the more moral, more righteous sex.  I would like to know where this happened, as I am yet to find it in my bible.


If you like lists, here are few reasons to support my stand on this issue:  One, attacking the other woman is not going to help your marriage; it will either hurt it further or do no good at all.  Two, attacking the other woman may push your husband to her side in defense of your attack. Three if you want to be true to your Christianity remember that Jesus never teaches us to attack others even when we believe they have sinned against us. And last but not the least, be good to yourself; attacking the other woman may lead her to insult you or even physically harm you and that won’t do you or your marriage any good.

God Bless.

NB:  Please leave a comment, as always I would like to hear your opinion.





Saturday, 13 December 2014

Marriage & The Family




On Women Breadwinners

Last Saturday night I was home chilling with three of my sisters.  It was a cool fall evening that quickly turned to night and then to morning as four well educated, career minded Alpha females, three of which were mothers, enjoyed heart felt and passionate, sometimes heated discussions over lots of good food, wine, tea, hot cocoa and yummy deserts.  {Thanks to Thanksgiving left overs we had loads of options J} As can almost always be predicted when women get together the issue quickly converged on Love, Marriage & Relationships.  This time though it was not the same old stuff, the focus was on women providers in a family unit.

Do Having a woman as the major provider in a family unit disrupt the natural order of marriage as God designed it?

“By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground” God told Adam in Genesis 3:19 

“When a woman who is financially capable of providing for a family marries a man who is not, she marries a man who is not ready for marriage” one of my sisters said during our discussion on Saturday. 

Do you agree?  Should women be marrying these men?  Should these men be getting married before they are able to provide for a family? How does the dynamics affect relationships between husband and wives in marriage? Are most men resentful of a woman who provides their family’s financial needs leaving them un-needed to do their God given responsibilities or according to 1 Timothy 5:8 making them worse than an infidel.  A little harsh but read it for yourself.  Are there men that are ok or even happy with being provided for by a woman?

I have seen and heard about these men who on the surface (or maybe to their clueless wives) they are happy to be provided for but they turn around and use their wives’ money to fund an extra marital relationships where they can have the natural provider position to another woman.  There was a particular gut-wrenching story about a successful corporate tax lawyer whose husband started another family in Nigeria as she worked hard in the US to shoulder the family’s financial responsibilities mostly by herself.  Her story was that he was doing business in Nigeria and that explained his frequent trips.  On the other hand his business was not doing so well just yet and that’s how she explained his inability to provide the family’s basic needs. 

It is my opinion that women should be very careful when taking the role of provider general in their marriage relationships, as they run a huge risk of emasculating and pushing away their husbands.  They also run a risk of suffering much more than heartbreak when and if their story becomes one of the ugly stories we heard and shared on Saturday.  Having being heartbroken quite a few times, I dare say it is far easier for a woman to heal a broken heart than to mend the destruction wrought when your heart is broken by a man you spent your money on. 

I honestly believe that women are not natural providers so it hurts them extra when a man they spent money on breaks their hearts.   Women that find themselves in this position begin to believe that the man should love & respect them extra because they are doing his job for them but it doesn’t work that way.  Women take note…  Men let me know if you agree or disagree.

God Bless
#Sisterhood #Marriagenthefamily

Wednesday, 10 December 2014

Walking in this World



The last couple of weeks, I have been busy with take a much needed personal vacation, wrapping up my fall classes and working on my first short story  [Yay!!! :)], but the most exciting thing that happened to me during this time was discovering the magical transformation one can create by walking.

I recently picked up walking as a way to feed my Artist, a tool prescribed by Julia Cameron in her book "Walking in this world".   Walking leisurely does not come naturally for me, as it needs patience, which is not by biggest virtue ;).   For me learning to walk is learning to be patient and patience is helping me rebuild strength, which in turn feeds my courage.

 I have dedicated my God given time to learning, and learning to live a richer life as I attempt to answer God's call to live a purpose driven life have been very rewarding.  I have learned to pay attention to life and it has healed my pain.  I have learned to focus on the present and watched my anxieties wash away and disappear.  I am gaining back control of my life and it feels great!

Three days ago I was talking to a dear friend on the phone at around midnight and something miraculous happened.  I felt sleepy!!  I was sooo sleepy, I didn't hear most of what he was saying.  For me that was a major breakthrough.  Only someone who has suffered insomnia will understand how miraculous feeling sleepy felt to me.  For over a year now, I have stayed up as the world slept, but as I heal I am falling asleep more, stressing less and saying Yes to God more.

During my walks these past few weeks from Houston, to New York, to Philly, London, to Kent, to Slough and back to Houston, I have taken to capturing life that caught my attention and I really wanted to share some of these pictures with you.  I hope you enjoy them.  Please post your own pictures captured while taking time to pay attention to life all around you on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with the hash tag #Walkinginthisworld.  



















Don't forget to tag me!


Have a Blessed Day!

Thursday, 16 October 2014

Insecurity - Final


How it affects women - Part III

Lets just say it wasn’t nice and I did let her goad me into schooling her about how life really works outside the mind of an insecure woman.  For example an insecure woman thinks that they do not deserve their husband and he is so great that every woman wants to steal him from her but in the real life men ask women out and her husband may not be able to get any woman interested in him if they knew he was married.  She ended her LinkedIn message attack by saying “we are all insecure”.  This prompted an interesting discussion on my Facebook wall and impelled me to go looking for answers to my question “Are we really all insecure?” 

Unfortunately the answer to the question is yes.  Everyone is insecure about something and there are very useful insecurities like apprehension that keeps us safe from bad guys and distrust that keeps us safe from con men, you can read more about The Upside of Insecurity, but I know this, not all women are insecure enough to attack another woman because they think or know she is the other woman the husband is having an affair with.  I dare say that the world would benefit greatly from more confident women.  Even guys like John Doe would appreciate a more confident woman because a confident woman would believe her husband if he fesses up about taking a woman out but not having an affair with her.  A confident woman will not marry a man she does not or cannot trust.  A confident woman will leave a cheating husband and if you still can’t see how more confident women will make the world a better place.  Close your eyes and think about a world where men knew for a fact that their wives will leave them if they cheat….  If you believe that this will not change anything then check your insecurities because you sincerely believe that men do not value their wives. 

If you want to know if you are insecure or might appear insecure to others you can check out these signs of insecurity.  A good look at why you might be insecure can also help you boost your confidence.

Cheers!


God Bless