For a lot of people, their best friends are one of the most important people in their lives. And even for some married couples, their relationship with their best friends can be different compared to their relationship with their spouse, and that's totally fine.
The problem lies when the line between friendship and romance gets blurred, and you start falling for one of your close friends.
It's called emotional infidelity
Emotional infidelity means that you're emotionally unfaithful to your spouse. This means that you're deliberately keeping secrets from him or her, or whenever you have problems in your marriage, you don't talk it out, but instead, you go to one of your friends for emotional support.
In a marriage, it's important that your spouse is the first person you talk to whenever you have problems, even if the problem concerns your spouse, or your marriage in general. The problem lies when it comes to boundaries, as there are some friendships that can rival those of romantic relationships.
In some cases, you should ask yourself, "Why can't I tell my spouse this secret, but I can freely share it with my close friends?" Being unable to share intimate secrets with your spouse can denote a lack of openness in your relationship, and can signify that you're not as emotionally connected with each other.
It can escalate into something more
The scary thing about emotional infidelity is that it can sometimes escalate into something more. Surely you've heard stories of someone whose marriage is in peril, suddenly falling for their best friend, because their best friend was with them throughout their problems.
It makes you think, why would you immediately turn to your best friend if the problems you have are within the relationship? Shouldn't you go to your spouse first, and try to solve it and sort things out?
It's also important to learn when to draw the line. If you feel that you're being unnecessarily close with your best friend, then try and hold back a little bit. It doesn't mean that you need to cut ties, it just means that you have to be aware of what's happening, and the potential risk of suddenly falling in love with your best friend.
Building a strong emotional bond with your spouse is important, and it's something that you need to work on everyday. Just because you and your spouse are very close, doesn't mean that the closeness won't fade away. Marriage is something that needs constant work, and it's up to the both of you to make your marriage into a happy and wonderful one.
Source: theguardian.com
READ: 7 reasons why people cheat in their marriage
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