The One He Settled For?

I got married with the illusion that I would be married forever. I must admit that we did get married kind of fast. I married an old friend and after 3 months of dating and in the so-called honeymoon stage of the relationshio, we decided to get married. Shortly after getting married we moved from our hometown and 8 months into our marriage things began to go south. We were fighting, not getting along and he would tell me that we should go our separate ways, that I should go out and find someone more compatible to spend my life with. But I refused. We both came from divorced parents and I was set on not repeating the pattern, and besides what would other people say? So since I refused to let him go we continued being married and two years into our marriage I got pregnant. I thought our little bundle of joy would help the marriage but it did not. We continued in the lackluster marriage and I totally knew in my mind that he did not want me, but hey I would not be like my divorced parents and of course---what would other people say??!!!
So a few months after our son was born I found out that he he had been cheating on me. I could not believe this, so I looked the other way and did not believe any of it. Fast forward to my son being one year and 8 months and I find out I was pregnant again.
And guess what readers of the world...yes my husband was still cheating on me all this time. He continued to cheat on me throughout my second pregnancy and I will never know for how long he had been cheating on me.
But how can I leave a marriage with two kids, a mortgage and bills to pay. What would other people think???
In my stubborn nature I truly did not want to end the marriage. I wanted to work it out. He did not.
One day I looked into my children's eyes and I just knew I had to end it. Deep down inside I knew for a very long time that my husband did not love me but I was too stubborn and caught up in not wanting to be like my divorced parents that I allowed the marriage to go on for so long. It was the hardest decision of my life but I did not want to be the woman my ex-husband settled for just because I did not want to let him go.
All of you out there who are holding tight to bad marriages or relationships because you are afraid, let me just tell you that today I am the most happy that I can be. I let my ex-husband go, he moved on and found love. I also moved on and found great love. I am with a man who truly respects me, who tells me that he loves me and someone I know wants to be by my side. My children have two happy homes instead of one sad home. I am not saying it will be easy, in fact it hurts like hell because you come to accept that someone does not love you in the way you wanted. What I am saying is that do not be afraid, do not hang on to a relationship that has run its course, we all deserve to be respected and loved and if the person beside you does not appreciate that, then it's time to move on and find someone that does.
I refused to be the one my ex husband settled for....are you the one he is settling for?