Marriage, Routine and the Temptation of Feeling Alive Again

I am travelling home at the end of the month, but most conversations with my wife revolve around bills, the children, electricity problems and issues at her shop. I also raise these topics because I do not know what else we should talk about. When I return after months away, I find myself focused on chores and frustrations. I complain about the house, fix things and scold my daughter over little issues. It feels like I have reduced fatherhood and marriage to routine. At the same time, I have grown close to a younger woman who lives in the North. Our conversations make me feel desired, motivated and more alive. It has made me question whether people should ignore emotional connections simply because of their status or circumstances. I still love my wife, but I am confronting the difference between the comfort of family life and the excitement of feeling seen by someone new. Is following that feeling freedom, or is it a betrayal of the people who depend on me?

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