It is estimated that 50 percent of husbands will have an affair. I don’t mean an emotional adventure or a fantasy, but a physical adventure. With such a grim statistic, what are the odds of her husband cheating on her and how the heck does she keep him on the right side of the stats?

The good news is that not everyone cheats, so you have a fighting chance. In my humble opinion, your relationship with your husband is one of the main influences on whether he remains faithful or not. I don’t think you can stop him if he’s hell-bent on cheating. However, I think that you are one of the main reasons why you will not cheat and if you have close family, children and in-laws, that can also help influence your decision. On the other hand, some people are just determined that cheating is worth the risk.

For example, this is a recent real-life event that happened in North Carolina. You may have seen the story on the news. There was a guy who owned a towing business and of course he was married with kids. He was having an affair and for some reason the news about the affair would probably get out. In an attempt to prevent the matter from becoming public, he killed his lover and tried to burn the body by setting fire. He was unsuccessful and is now in prison, with little chance that everyone will ever see freedom again. This boy had a family, a business, and a good reputation in his community. Why the hell did he throw it all away, just for a brief adventure?

I’d be lying if I told you that I know his reasoning. I don’t think he was sincere with his wife or with himself. No way, a truthful man wakes up one day, has an affair, and ends up killing the person he’s cheating with. That person has cheated on his spouse and many others.

Now, I didn’t detail this story to depress you or make it seem like there’s nothing you can or should do to dissuade your husband from having an affair. I think your goal shouldn’t just be to prevent him from having an affair. If that’s your only goal, you may miss out on having a great marriage. If you focus on having a great marriage, I think you will have a better chance of preventing your husband from having an affair. It will also reduce the chances of you having an affair. Oh yeah, you also have to be careful not to fall into another man’s arms or bed. But that’s something we can talk about at another time.

Now back to your husband, sweetie pie, sugar puff, or whatever nickname you have for him. What can you do to keep it on the right side of the 50% statistic?

1. Fill their voids – Filling his gaps means trying to work with him to let him know that he is respected, loved and appreciated. Men are simple people and they need to feel relevant. If your husband feels relevant, chances are he doesn’t need to stray to fill this void in his life.
2. Give limits – Your husband has to know that you care enough to care about what he does and with whom. Girlfriends aren’t necessary and neither is your need to date single guys and girls. The easiest way to fall into the arms of another woman is to spend quality time with other women. You need to know that this is unacceptable.
3. Don’t assume it won’t No matter how good a man your husband is, don’t assume he wouldn’t. Do you remember the owner of the towing company I mentioned earlier? Just because you are a good, loving, and devoted husband and father does not mean that you cannot fall from grace and have an affair. Be on your guard and always assume that he could cheat on you. You don’t have to obsess over it. But never close your eyes and assume you would never cheat.

So how likely is your husband to cheat on you? I’ll sum it up by saying that in some way it’s up to you. Not everything is up to you, but you can influence whether or not he cheats. Work on building a strong and healthy marriage and the chances of him having an affair will be much less than 50%.