Hi all,
I'm new to this forum and have really been comforted/informed by many of the threads I've read.
I'm sure you all have probably gotten this question many times, so forgive me if it seems repetitive.
My husband and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Unfortunately, we are in a weird and sad space right now because I told him last week -- after much soul-searching and internal debate -- that I wanted to open our relationship up.
Originally, he seemed open to the idea. In the first day or two after our initial conversation about it, in fact, he asked a lot of questions, said he felt freer to flirt with women, understood some of my angst and distance better and felt generally bouyed by the fact that he no longer worried that my "pulling away" as he called it was because I didn't love him. He was happy to learn that I did in fact love him very much and didn't want to hurt him, but I'd been evolving toward this point for two, going on three, years.
But yesterday, he did a 180. He is sad, "heartbroken," disappointed and hurt. He sobbed like a baby while I held him (something that has only ever happened once in our marriage -- when a close family member of his died). He said he feels bad about himself, feels "less than," feels "shitty," feels like a death has occurred.
His pain affects me so tremendously, I immediately pulled back on my desire to be polyamorous. I assured him that he was the most important person in my life, our marriage and family the most important things. And if he couldn't deal with this, then we wouldn't do it. Period.
I'm not sure if he believes me. He now says he knows how I "really feel," so he doesn't know how proceed. He wants us to work, and he wants me to be happy, but he is having a supremely hard time processing all that he has learned about me and my needs and my idea of what makes a fulfilling life.
Here's my question:
Can this marriage be saved?
1. Can he move on from here, provided I make a sincere effort to reassure him of his place in my heart and in my life?
2. Can I be OK without the outside relationships I have craved?
Does anyone have experience similar to this? I am so scared to lose him and our family and all that we've built together. He's an amazing, wonderful, loving, beautiful man and I love him so much. I don't want this to come between us, but I fear I've let the horse out of the barn, so to speak, and there's no going back now.

I'm new to this forum and have really been comforted/informed by many of the threads I've read.
I'm sure you all have probably gotten this question many times, so forgive me if it seems repetitive.
My husband and I will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary in a few weeks. Unfortunately, we are in a weird and sad space right now because I told him last week -- after much soul-searching and internal debate -- that I wanted to open our relationship up.
Originally, he seemed open to the idea. In the first day or two after our initial conversation about it, in fact, he asked a lot of questions, said he felt freer to flirt with women, understood some of my angst and distance better and felt generally bouyed by the fact that he no longer worried that my "pulling away" as he called it was because I didn't love him. He was happy to learn that I did in fact love him very much and didn't want to hurt him, but I'd been evolving toward this point for two, going on three, years.
But yesterday, he did a 180. He is sad, "heartbroken," disappointed and hurt. He sobbed like a baby while I held him (something that has only ever happened once in our marriage -- when a close family member of his died). He said he feels bad about himself, feels "less than," feels "shitty," feels like a death has occurred.
His pain affects me so tremendously, I immediately pulled back on my desire to be polyamorous. I assured him that he was the most important person in my life, our marriage and family the most important things. And if he couldn't deal with this, then we wouldn't do it. Period.
I'm not sure if he believes me. He now says he knows how I "really feel," so he doesn't know how proceed. He wants us to work, and he wants me to be happy, but he is having a supremely hard time processing all that he has learned about me and my needs and my idea of what makes a fulfilling life.
Here's my question:
Can this marriage be saved?
1. Can he move on from here, provided I make a sincere effort to reassure him of his place in my heart and in my life?
2. Can I be OK without the outside relationships I have craved?
Does anyone have experience similar to this? I am so scared to lose him and our family and all that we've built together. He's an amazing, wonderful, loving, beautiful man and I love him so much. I don't want this to come between us, but I fear I've let the horse out of the barn, so to speak, and there's no going back now.