You go onto an online dating site, maybe to find out if an ex is there, just to see how he or she is doing. You connect with them or with someone else that seems interesting to you. The catch? You’re married already. And your marriage isn’t in shambles, and you aren’t unhappy, but you just wanted to see how the waters of online dating might treat you.

It’s an ego boost when you get a response and it feels good to have someone talk to you and to tell you all the things you want to hear. But when you’re already married, not only are you leading the other person on, but you’re also hurting the relationship you’re in right now.

Here are some signs that you need to start talking to your spouse more than you need to be on online dating websites:

• You spend hours on online dating sites
• You don’t tell your partner about your internet activity
• You hide your online history or delete it entirely
• You talk more to your online dates than you do to your spouse
• You don’t mention that you’re married

While there are bad marriages out there and there are times when you might want to talk to someone else about things you need in your life, the truth is that going behind your spouse’s back isn’t necessarily the way to solve your problems.

Maybe it’s time to get offline and start talking to your spouse instead.

Affairs and Cheating Exes, Marriage, Married, Spouse

Dating someone who’s been divorced can pose certain challenges, especially if that person is in some way still involved with their ex partner. While you might feel like this is all ‘excess baggage’ you can do without, you might be surprised that there can actually be advantages to such relationships.

Marriages end for many reasons, and it might not necessarily be because one side or other was at fault. For example, people who marry very young often find that they drift apart as they get older because their priorities and expectations are no longer the same as when they first met. Often we need to have more than one relationship to know who our best partner is when we find them.

A person who is divorced has had at least one deep relationship, and hopefully they have learnt from their mistakes, and will now be in a better position to know who’s right for them. As with any relationship, there are always things to watch-out for. Read more in dating a divorced man.

Divorce Divorce, Exes, Kids, Married