Imagine my surprise as I click to view a video shared on Facebook with this statistic. I immediately thought to myself, “Wow, 85%? There are a lot of relationships in trouble if this statistic is true. As I listened, I hoped this wasn’t actually the case.
After digging a little deeper, I was never able to find the information to support the 85%, but I was able to uncover a poll done with 2,000 women in the UK, by onepoll.com that states 43% of women have a plan b man, just in case things don’t work out.
According to the poll, this reserve man is usually an old friend, an ex, a colleague or a gym buddy and very likely someone the woman has known for at least 7 years. In a related article, it also stated married women are even more likely to have another man in mind than the women who are dating. In some cases, the feelings for the plan b man are either the same or even stronger than those of their spouse. Scary, right? This whole idea made me think about the level of commitment most couples bring into their marriage. It must be very low for a person who already knows who’s next if their marriage doesn’t work out.
No married person ever wants to think about the end of their relationship. The what happens next, how do I move on and who do I move on with, shouldn’t even be part of your thinking while you’re married. Replacing those thoughts with, how can I make this an even better marriage, and in what ways can I be a better spouse, should be the focus of every married person’s thought process about their relationship.
In order for our marriages to thrive and prosper, there absolutely shouldn’t be a back up plan. Having a plan b man on reserve, prevents a wife from being fully present. It prohibits her from being solution focused and completely committed to her husband. She won’t be willing to work on the relationship with true energy and intention. Basically, it will be much easier to walk away. It really is a sad state of affairs when there is someone in standby mode, waiting for a marriage to fail.
BMWK, what are your thoughts on these statistics?