David Pasqualone: Staying Present as Dad When Life Pulls You Apart

“No matter what’s going on in your life, no matter how it quote unquote feels, just keep doing the right things for the right reason. Love God, love others, and everything will fall into place. Never quit.” – David Pasqualone

Ever felt like you’re fighting an uphill battle to be a great dad after a divorce? You’re not alone. In this heartfelt episode, I sit down with David Pasqualone, a father who’s been through the wringer of a challenging divorce and is still striving to maintain a strong connection with his children.

David opens up about his journey, sharing both the triumphs and the struggles of fatherhood post-divorce. His story is a testament to the power of perseverance and faith in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

 

The Reality of Post-Divorce Parenting with David Pasqualone

Learn how David navigates the complex landscape of co-parenting and maintaining relationships with his children despite challenging circumstances.

 

Faith as an Anchor

Discover how David’s faith has been a source of strength and hope, even when his children have been turned against him.

 

The Power of Presence

Understand why being present in the moment is crucial when you have limited time with your children.

 

Overcoming Parental Alienation

Gain insights into dealing with situations where your ex-spouse may be influencing your children’s perception of you.

 

Keeping Hope Alive with David Pasqualone

Find out how David maintains his vision of rebuilding strong relationships with his children, despite current challenges.

Whether you’re going through a divorce, have experienced one, or simply want to be prepared for life’s curveballs, this episode offers valuable lessons on resilience and unwavering love in fatherhood.

Remember, being a great dad isn’t about perfection – it’s about persistence. Are you ready to be inspired and equipped for the journey ahead? Listen now and discover how to keep your fatherhood dream alive, no matter what life throws your way.

 

Time Stamps:

00:00:00 – The Impact of Divorces on Everyday Fathers
00:01:33 – Fatherhood After Divorce: David’s Story
00:05:47 – The Challenges of Post-Divorce Fatherhood
00:12:17 – Navigating Strained Relationships with Children
00:24:34 – The Role of Faith in Difficult Times
00:36:51 – Advice for Dads Struggling Post-Divorce

 

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Episode 8 of the Dad Hat Shenanigans Podcast: The Unfiltered Truth of Being a Dad

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Transcript

David Pasqualone: Staying Present as Dad When Life Pulls You Apart

D Brent Dowlen: [00:00:00] Most men are familiar with the insanity around the Johnny Depp Amber, her divorce last year. In fact, the amount of airtime that singular divorce got was so epic that you almost couldn’t avoid it at all. And it was absolute insanity if you actually kept up with the details at all. But what about the nasty divorces happening every day?

We all know men, or you may be a man who’s been impacted by. Maybe it was a fairly polite divorce or maybe it was a really nasty divorce, but men who are truly wanting to be great dads are often met with unfair biases in the American court system daily. There are so many men out there who desperately just wanna be a good dad, and the court system is keeping them away from their kids.

Whether it’s a good divorce, I don’t know if there is a good divorce, a nasty divorce, or an amicable divorce. Dads are being pulled away from their kids. So how do [00:01:00] you dad after a particularly nasty divorce? Because I know some of you out there are asking that very question. Well, today we’re diving into the impact of faith for one father and how he gives him hope even though his kids have been turned against him, even though he thought he was trying to do the right things.

The lessons that he’s learned along the way. David’s gonna share some insights on how to keep living the dad life post-divorce, how little things matter when you only have moments with your children, whether you have them a lot or little even. And how holding onto hope and faith has kept this fatherhood dream alive, even as their life has played out post divorce.

Check out this great dad story he shares right here at the beginning. Then we’ll have a word from our sponsor and we’ll dive into being a dad post-divorce and how faith has impacted his journey Personally, David, every, every dad has that story that just puts a [00:02:00] smile on your face, right? What is your dad story?

David Pasqualone: Man, I, you know, all of us have so many stories and so many moments we like, and I have two kids. I have, uh, my son John, he’s in the Air Force now. My daughter, Emma, she’s in California doing personal training. You know, 22 and 21. I. But, um, the fondest memories I have are just the times we spent together. I’d come back, I’d travel a lot back then and work, and then as soon as I was home, I’d want to engage and we’d wrestle and, you know, I.

They’d try to try to teach ’em how to work together and flip me over and we’d all get sweaty and nasty and they’d work so hard to, to try to beat dad and pin him down. And then they didn’t realize the skills they were learning Right. And the strength they were developing. And then after that we just cuddle and watch a movie and, and those are just my favorite times when they were growing up.

D Brent Dowlen: [00:03:00] Absolutely. There’s nothing like trying to be dad. Like, it’s funny ’cause people think that. Daughters don’t do that. I, I got two. I I’m constantly wrestling with them or boxing with them. So yeah, it’s the, there’s just those times are so awesome. Like, you just, it’s the best moments when you come in, your kids, you’re just like, oh, and jump on you and trying to beat up.

We’re gonna get you down. Yeah.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, I think it was 2018. So my kids, you know, they’re teenagers and they were still, we were at the beach, uh, one weekend and as teenagers are trying to take me down, they’ve never been able to take me down in the water. And so at that point I was working out, I was 200 pounds with 10% body fat doing jiujitsu, you know, going against guys way bigger than me, six foot six, 300 pounds, holding my own.

This weekend I go to the beach with my kids. They turn me and twist my knee. So it’s like I could do anything. I could lift a car and my kids [00:04:00] took out my knee. So I was pretty proud of them.

D Brent Dowlen: I love

David Pasqualone: it. Still didn’t dunk me, but they took out my knee.

D Brent Dowlen: Living your best out life brother. Living your best out life.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, six months of physical therapy.

D Brent Dowlen: Guys, we’re gonna roll to our sponsor real quick and we’ll be right back with David Paone.

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Your favorite podcast. Here we are, right? The dad hashing his podcast Stay on Air. It also helps fight for free. Speech right now is Mike Lindell is literally arguing a. First Amendment right in courts today as [00:06:00] we’re recording this. So guys, go to mypillow.com. Use code TFM. Get great American Made products, support your favorite podcasts, and help keep speech free.

Welcome to the Dad Hatch Shenanigans podcast, the unfiltered truth of being a dad. Real dads real stories, unfiltered, candid conversations on fatherhood. I’m your host, Brent dLAN, and today my guest is entrepreneur, podcaster, and coach David Paone. David, welcome to the Dad Hatchings podcast.

David Pasqualone: Oh, it’s great to be here, Brent, and to all your audience.

Thanks for having me.

D Brent Dowlen: I, I especially love to have conversations. Uh, David is a, a personal friend and colleague, and I love being able to be on. With guys I really, really deeply know, because to me, that just makes conversations so much more fun. So I’m super excited to have this conversation today. Now, you said you had two kids, right?

It’s just the two?

David Pasqualone: [00:07:00] Yep. Two kids. Two, they’re, they’re adults now. John and Emma. Yep.

D Brent Dowlen: Yeah, but they’re always your kids. That never changed. I know.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. My daughter gets mad. She’s my little girl. She always will be. She doesn’t get it yet.

D Brent Dowlen: I think that’s hardest on daughters because. They’re, you’re never like, they, they don’t get it until they have kids of their own.

They don’t know. It’s like, no, you’re always my child. Period. It doesn’t matter how old you get, you’ll always be my child.

David Pasqualone: Uh, exactly. Exactly. And with sons and daughters, you love ’em both. And you love ’em equally, but it’s different. So once they have their own kids, they’ll figure it out.

D Brent Dowlen: Now, David, I don’t do, uh, major introductions.

So for the das listening, let’s get to know you a little bit. Just tell us who David Pascal is and what you’re about, and let’s get to know you a little.

David Pasqualone: Man, I, I’m just a man. I trusted Christ as my [00:08:00] savior when I was 15. Changed my whole life. And even though I’ve had all sorts of crazy ups and downs, physically, financially, personally, um, God’s always been with me.

So even when it seemed dark and alone in the world. God’s with me, and that brings joy and happiness. Uh, professionally, I am a marketing and sales consultant. So everything from, you know, we’ll look at our clients, what’s their goal, where are they realistically at, and we reverse engineer the plan to get ’em there.

And then we either give ’em the handbook to go ahead and run with it. We kind of coach ’em with the handbook, make sure they’re, they’re staying on track. Or for a lot of clients we just do it for ’em so they can focus on what they love. We do the with the rest to grow their business and hit their vision.

So that’s it in a nutshell. I live in beautiful Pensacola, Florida, and I’m very thankful to God for my life. And I wanna just help as many people come to know him, grow in him, and uh, hopefully again, if you see [00:09:00] failure, that’s all me. But if you see success, it’s all him.

D Brent Dowlen: All right. Now you’re wearing like, is that a world’s greatest dad hat?

I’m seeing.

David Pasqualone: Yes. Yes.

D Brent Dowlen: The smallest word on top of greatest. I see. Greatest.

David Pasqualone: Lemme

D Brent Dowlen: see. How’s that? Oh, there we go. World’s greatest Dad. What is the dad hat story here?

David Pasqualone: So, you know, when my kids were little into teens, we were so close, like all best friends. And when they gave me this hat, they meant it. You know, like you’re, they looked up to me and they love me and they thought the world to me.

So this hat is special to me. ’cause, you know. You don’t wanna take for granted any day. But sadly, in my story, you know, I had a, I went through a divorce and our relationship with the kids got broken In a lot of ways. Truth will always come out. God will use time to heal it, [00:10:00] but our relationship hasn’t been the same for years.

So when I look at this hat, it reminds me of times where it was pure. It was open and honest and we just had a great relationship. And so sometimes I look at this hat and I feel shame and sadness and other times this, look at this hat and I feel like super happy and hope so. I’m looking forward to the day again when they’re like, you are the world’s greatest dad.

D Brent Dowlen: Love it hat for a better time. We all want to be the world’s greatest dad. Like, you know, I, I see the hat. I’m like, no, I’m the world’s greatest dad. Right. You know, it’s just that thing. Right. We all want to be world’s greatest dads, but uh, life, life can make that a little rough sometimes.

David Pasqualone: And so, yeah. And it’s not like, I think, it’s not like I’m saying I am the world’s greatest dad.

Right. But the fact that your kids think it, that is special. You know, it’s, it’s awesome. It

D Brent Dowlen: was the end goal, right? I, I’m, [00:11:00] I told you once, uh, my goal in life is to convince my children that I’m Superman. I, I wanna, I wanna just be so ridiculously incredible at being a dad, an example of a man that my daughters can’t help but find good men eventually, because the, their bar is so high that like they have such high standards for what they expect out of a good man.

So that, that’s, that’s the goal, right? That’s, uh, so that’s my hopes in the world’s greatest Dad category. But no, having your kids actually think you are is, it’s the goal we’re all after, for sure. Yep. Now, David, there are a lot of men out there who are in a similar situation where for whatever reason, uh, they’re separated or divorced.

And that puts so much pressure on a father to try and maintain relationships with your [00:12:00] kids. Uh, so let’s, let’s talk a little bit about that today and hopefully you can share some insights that you’ve learned along the way and try to be a great dad. And, you know, even, even in a divorce where things didn’t go so, so smooth, right?

I, uh, and I’m not gonna, what details of your relationship are, are all you, man? I’m not asking for deep details on that, but I know that your divorce was not the best. You and your wife are not exactly co-parenting well these days. So, you know, how do you, how do you shift gears into a new perspective as a dad who’s trying to be a father, who’s trying to be present in his kid’s life?

Right after a bad divorce.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. So that’s so much. Every situation is different and there’s so many complexities in life. So the older I [00:13:00] get, the more I learn that, you know, life’s messy and God’s always good, but we create messes or other people create messes and we’re just part of it. We have to clean it up.

Right. In my situation, I spent like four years trying to help my kids reattach to my wife. And during that time, this is more of a cautionary tale, right, to people who might be going through a divorce. Um, I put so much effort into keeping the family together and to reattaching the relationship with the kids and my wife.

That she repaid me by twisting them and turning them against me. And you know, if I do something I’ll own it. I have my own faults for sure, but it’s really frustrating and hard where like 95% of what they believe is based on lies, right? [00:14:00] So that’s a hard pill to swallow. So that is my, I’m not kidding if that was, if my relationship with my kids were solid.

My relationship with God’s great myself is great, but if I had that man, my life would be like near perfect, right? I’d probably die and go home to be with Jesus. ’cause it’s right. What else you gotta do? But um, during the dark times, I gotta remind myself, wait, there’s a lot of people in the Bible, old Testament and new.

Who pretty much were accused of stuff they didn’t do. They were, you know, humiliated. They were, uh, looked down upon the quote unquote, you know, I don’t, I don’t wanna use the term Christians ’cause they’re not Christ-like, but people who go to church and say they’re Christians, um, they, they’re the worst sometimes, right?

So, I believe in God, I believe in church. I believe in. Fellowship, but you know what I’m talking about. The people who fill the pews and, uh, th they drink $37, uh, Starbucks coffees and go to church in yoga pants with no [00:15:00] humility. That’s the kind of people that I’m talking about. But then I remember, you know, Jesus, he did nothing wrong and he was accused of everything in betrayed.

And Joseph, you know, that wasn’t like a few months, that was years and I think people will say 30 something years that he was basically. You know, his brother screwed him, his friends screwed him. People in the prison screwed him Potter for his wife, but he still prospered. So my sadness that I get, I gotta reframe it and be like, God’s in control.

God loves me. This is all gonna work out. I just gotta keep loving God being the right man today. And then the rest is between them and God and time.

D Brent Dowlen: How do you approach connecting with your kids? Right. You said your wife has put some, so some animosity and some mistrust. Yeah. So [00:16:00] when your kids are being pushed away from you and you’re, you can’t be with them all the time, right? Yeah. How do go through the, I wanna say. Take the licks. ’cause I mean, it’s right there.

There’s times they’ve pushed back because they’ve been kind of pushed against you. So how do you growing up as a dad, even in those moments?

David Pasqualone: So that’s a tough one. And I can’t say for sure if I’m doing it right, I can say what I’ve seen progress in. So for a long time I just took it. I didn’t say anything.

And then other times when I. When they’d say something, I’d be like, wait, that’s not true. And then I’d use illustrations like for instance, if you went back and looked at like the counseling notes out of their mouth. I wasn’t even in the room. They’ll, they told the story to the counselors. Their memories now are completely [00:17:00] different.

So this was out of their mouth documented. That was the truth. But now if you ask ’em about those same situations. Their minds are different. And I’ve even had my son over here a couple months ago, and he is talking about something. I’m like, that didn’t happen. He’s like, yes, it did. So I pull out some pictures and I show him, and he’s like, whoa.

So I don’t know how it happened specifically, but their brains were like reprogrammed in a bad way. So as a father who loves my kids, it, it just breaks my heart. But then I get frustrated. So I’m trying to, no, no, no. This is the truth. This is the truth. By me saying this is the truth. Obviously it’s like the source of the lies was my ex-wife.

So they’re perceiving it. The last few years is where you’re talking bad about mom. It’s like, no, mom’s lied about me and ruined our relationship. I’m just saying these are the facts. They’ve perceived that for years as me talking bad with her mother. So what I learned is the more I talk, the more I [00:18:00] buried myself.

So now I just don’t say anything. If a specific instant happens where something comes up, I’m like, where? Where do you believe that? Like, where’d that come from? And then I let them talk and kind of go through their brain to figure out the source of what they believe at this point is. And then I leave it up to them and God.

To say, wait, is that even truth or, or am I wrong here? So it’s been very hard, very frustrating, very discouraging. But I know with my son especially just by kind of like not bringing it up, just talking to him about the present today, and then if something happens in the now, addressing it directly. And then moving forward, and then I’ll like do every single thing I can.

Not to even talk about my [00:19:00] ex-wife or not to bring her up because even though that’s the source, it’s still their mother. And like I said, I dug a hole for like five years by trying to defend myself. And now it’s like, I just remember like God defend me. Like there’s nothing, there is nothing I have not said.

There is nothing I haven’t tried. There is nothing I can do except trust God. And that’s what I’m doing now. And I know that even in this short life, I’m gonna go the rest of my life and never have that pure intimacy and closeness with my kids again. And eternity will be great because the truth will come out and I’ll be good to go.

So that’s how I stay encouraging and to engage with my kids. It’s just talk to ’em and stand today. Don’t go back to the past. And that’s very difficult because somebody might have an attitude and be like, dude, what’s going on? And they’re thinking about the past, but they don’t wanna talk about it. You know what I mean?

So it’s very complicated.

D Brent Dowlen: I, I can [00:20:00] only imagine. Uh, that’s the thing, right? I, I’ve watched other friends I know who have struggled after a divorce where things just went. Very sideways, and I see so often that a lot of the courts in the United States tend to side with a woman in about 70 plus 80% of the, and that’s a wild number.

Guys. I’m, I, I think is more than that, but in a lot of cases I see the woman come away with custody of the children and, and dads are just fighting, trying to beat that. Right. Trying to, it’s like, no, I, I’m their father. I wanna be there. I wanna show up. I wanna be involved in their life. And there’s so much pushing against them.

So you said you’re trying to be intentional in the moment when you are with them now as adults and stay here and present and engage with them where they’re at and say away from the past, [00:21:00] how do you. How did you try and reassure them during the more difficult times That I’m still here, that I love you, that I still want to be your dad, that I still, you’re still the most important things to me.

Even, even when that was difficult. How were you, what are some of the things you were doing to try and reassure them and say connected?

David Pasqualone: Man, I’m telling you, I have, I, we went to multiple counselors and let’s say like there was five total. Three of the five said, you know, in our like 30 year careers separate, these people don’t know each other, but three of the five were like, we’ve never seen anything like this.

So I went through the exceptional terrible divorce, right? Narcissist, gas lighter. Everybody thinks she’s an angel, but her heart’s like the devil. And it, it was really like mental warfare. So with my kids. I just, they, there was time with my son and my daughter. We didn’t even talk for a long time because they didn’t wanna talk to me.

So I’d [00:22:00] still, Hey, happy birthday, or reach out to them. Love you, thinking of you today. You know, hope your day’s going great. And it’s just like, honestly, just continuously trying to be loving and positive and getting rejected and taken a beating. For my son, you know, once he moved out of the house, it wasn’t, you know, four or five months where our relationship started restoring.

Big surprise, right? ’cause he was out from under that constant negative influence and she wasn’t the type of person to say, your dad’s this or that. She was real, subtle and manipulative. And so it was, they didn’t even realize what was happening. Okay. And then I’m like, wait, that’s not true. Your mom’s lying.

Then it put me down lower. So I had my ex-wife burying me, and then my own response is burying me. ’cause I’m, I’m not like, one of my faults is I’m very like, direct. I mean, you know me. I’m like, what’s going on? Like, you know, what are you doing? Let’s talk about this now. Boom, boom, boom. So I want to get to the core and resolve issues [00:23:00] and I can become like.

Like, like just obsessive, like I still have nightmares about my kids ’cause we had such a beautiful relationship for all those years. And then, you know, all these lies broke it up. So with the kids today, I just try to let them know, they know that I love ’em, they know that I’m there. And a counselor told me before, um, great counselor works with focus on the family.

He’s, you know, he’s been on my podcast and he’s helped families I know, and he told me a year before the, the break happened with my children. He’s like, Dave, you, I forget how we phrased it, but basically you’ve let this go on too long. Your kids know you love them unconditionally, but they’re trying to win your wife’s approval and love.

They’re gonna turn on you and I can’t tell you how long it’s gonna take. They’re like, they’ll come back, [00:24:00] but they’re gonna basically abuse you ’cause they’re gonna try to please their mother. And sure enough, Brent, almost within, I was thinking to myself, no way that’ll ever happen, but this guy is wise. So I took into consideration and like within one year of him telling me that it happened.

And so that, again, it was encouraging because, not encouraging that it happened, but just like he knew because of the. Action steps I took, or the lack of action steps I took in some areas. He said the kids were gonna disengage, but then he also said how they will eventually come back, but it’s gonna take some time.

So my son, we have a closer relationship now because he got out of that house sooner where my daughter spent two more years directly under that influence. So it’s just gonna take longer. So it’s like I love going, I love my kids, man. I die for my kids. But you know, there’s been real issues there. So that’s why this hat, the world’s greatest [00:25:00] dad, to have them believe that again and know it.

Uh, just rejoice my heart. My life will be pretty much like, I can’t imagine it better right now. I love my life. I thank God for it. Um, but yeah, it breaks my heart that my kids are distant from me at this point.

D Brent Dowlen: That’s. Gotta be rough, man. I just, I, the, the horrors, like that’s, uh, as like my dad radar is just, it’s like screaming at the idea of that kind of break with my kids.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And I’ve even gone as far as like, I mean, it, it’s like I’ve told my kids on multiple occasions, I’m like, Hey, why don’t you write all the things down you’re not sure about, or you think I’m lying about, or you, you what I’m saying that’s different than what you’re perceiving. I said, I will go, I’ll pay, I’ll take a polygraph.

You can pick the polygraph person. And I said, that way you at least know I’m telling the truth, or I believe I’m telling the truth. Okay? I said, I, I’m, and they won’t do it because in their heart they [00:26:00] know I’m telling the truth in their heart. They know the truth, but their minds can’t accept it. At this point, and again, I’m not trying to be innocent, Dave, you know me, the listeners may not.

But if I screw up, I take ownership. If I was the one that like had affairs, you know, I could see why my kids don’t talk to me. But I was, one, stayed pure and fought for the marriage for 24 years and six years of that was just a nightmare. So it’s, it’s really hard to swallow. Um, but again, that’s when I have the wrong perspective.

When I have the right perspective, I’m like, I know it’s gonna work out. We’re gonna be close again on this earth and for the rest of eternity.

D Brent Dowlen: So let’s switch gears for a minute just to brighten the mood slightly. What is the best part about dad? Uh, say that question again. What is the best part about being a dad?

David Pasqualone: You know, when you’re a dad, you understand more about how God loves you. So like, with all this going on with, with everything that’s happened, with [00:27:00] any kind of terrible behavior that, you know, my kids may do or say. I still love them and I, you know, once they say, dad, I’m sorry. Will you forgive me in an area?

You totally forgive me. Move on without question. So that’s awesome because I know that’s how God looks at us. And even better, even more pure. ’cause I’m a human, I’m flawed, I’m a sinner. But with Christ it’s just completely pure and that’s awesome. And just seeing your kids grow up and seeing their, their development and seeing them, you know, whether they, you know, we’re all gonna learn.

We’re gonna learn the easy way, the hard way. But seeing them learn either way and develop, they’re fantastic. And that got too awesome. Johnny is amazing. Emma’s amazing. They’re got so much going for ’em. You know, that’s the other thing is I just wanna see ’em thrive and give them everything I can. Help them any way I can.

’cause I just wanna see ’em go as far as they can. Uh, so yeah, so I love being a dad. It’s just this is a unusual situation. [00:28:00]

D Brent Dowlen: You bring a dad joke for us. We gotta have a dad joke of some kind.

David Pasqualone: All right. A dad joke. So I am the world’s worst singer, navigator and joke teller. Those are my three like super weaknesses.

I don’t remember jokes. I can tell stories, but jokes, no, not so good. But this one is a dad joke that I think you guys will appreciate. What does a tick in the Eiffel Tower have in common? What’s that? They’re both parasites.

And if you know me, you know how much I don’t like the French culture much.

D Brent Dowlen: Oh, I, I gotta go to one of those, like pre, like one, one of those like pre-programmed sound effects where I can just do the little, right. Yeah. I, I gotta get one of those for my show, man. Like, just the dad jokes on here just gets so bad.

It’s amazing. Uh, yeah.

David Pasqualone: But that’s, yeah, they’re both parasites

D Brent Dowlen: para.[00:29:00]

Gentlemen, if your relationships are not where you want ’em to be, I want you to know I got you. Relationships take a lot of work and can fall to the back burner pretty easily as your empire building in your life. Men often suffer from damage to their relationships while they’re trying to be that provider and all that pressure and build for their family.

The sacrifice is often those actually really critical relationships because you could only be so many places at a time. Guys, reach out to me and schedule your free discovery. Call over@purposedrivenmen.com to learn the skills you need to connect deeply with the people who matter most, that you’re doing all the work for anyway.

There’s nothing, nothing worse than getting to where you want to be and finding out you’re alone because the relationships that were actually worth the drive have fallen apart. And guys, in our Relationship Titans program, we’re going to teach you. How to reconnect, how to connect deeply with those people who matter most in your life so [00:30:00] you can live the life you wanna live and be the man you wanna be.

Check it out over purpose-driven men.com, free discovery call to put your relationships back at the forefront of everything you’re doing and live the life of value that you want to. So, David, help our audience out a little bit because there are a lot, sadly, sadly, at this point. In our society, there are a lot more dads who are post-divorce and just trying to still be dads to their kids in any way they can.

Whether they get to see them two days a month, or every other weekend or whatever, limited time they get, give us some ideas to help those dads who are trying to stay connected with their kids when they’re being limited by. The status of the relationship, the divorce, the courts, or whatever. What, what are some tips that you would advise for dads who are [00:31:00] just trying to hang in there and get to that future moment where things actually start to come together?

David Pasqualone: I think a couple, a couple big things are, number one, stay the course. Do the right thing for the right reasons. ’cause it’s right, right. Follow God. You know, like God says, what’s the greatest command? They, they ask, what’s the greatest commandment to Jesus? Love God, love thy neighbor as thyself. Everything else falls into place after that.

So no matter what’s happened or where you’re at today, just keep following God. Then when you’re with your kids, you know, all of us, we tend to go way to the left or way to the right, and we become way too strict ’cause we got such short time with them, or we got way too, you know, let’s just have fun and they become irresponsible and entitled.

So you gotta find that balance, right? Uh, but what I’d recommend is, you know, being real with them. And then never talking bad about your spouse, no matter how bad they are. ’cause they know how bad they are. And [00:32:00] for me, I wasn’t talking bad, but after four years I realized defending myself was in their mind, talking bad.

Okay. So that was huge mistake. Learned cautionary tale for me, my failure. But when you’re with your kids. Get off your phone, stay focused, spend time with ’em. And some people have little kids, like five years old. Mine were teenagers, so they’re already, you know, teenagers are already in a place where they’re probably gonna rebel in away or try to find their own selves.

And everything’s fighting against you. I mean, you got literal pastors saying all these sins are okay these days, and they’re not, you know, stick to the Bible, stick to God’s word. Um, but to the dads who are struggling, like you said earlier. SAT and the attorneys are the only people win on divorce. Okay?

The courts for most states are against family. Most of them have a huge bias towards men and women are literally like [00:33:00] untouchable in a lot of cases. But then I know women personally who went through divorces and they got totally creamed in the court system. So really it goes back to Satan and you just gotta continue to do the right thing.

Keep loving your kids, be there for ’em. Don’t be too lenient. Don’t be too strict. Just find that balance. But the other thing is don’t change who you are ’cause you’re trying to win their approval. Okay, so for instance, if your ex is allowing them to blank, watch sharing movies, drink, go out with friends that you know they shouldn’t.

Don’t try to be like your ex. Don’t try to be like that other partner who’s. Bling and going down the path to hell and taking, trying to take the kids with them, whether they realize it or not. You just keep the course and even if they hate you now they’ll understand later and they don’t hate you, but they’ll say it or they’ll act like it.

Um, but again, I’m not out on the other side yet, but I know it’s coming. I know my kids and I’ll be close again, have an amazing [00:34:00] relationship, but I know for sure an eternity zero problems because I’ve done everything I could. You can follow God and do the right thing. So I, I know an attorney, I’m gonna be fine.

Um, so for the dads out there, especially, just be who God made you to be. Focus on your relationship with God. Love your kids. Set boundaries and then the wrestle will fall into place. ’cause God’s not a liar.

D Brent Dowlen: David, if people want to connect with you, Chris, guys, I’ll, I’ll tell you, David has some great podcasts.

He’s a fellow podcaster. The Remarkable People Podcast. It’s an amazing show. And you have a new one, politics and Religion, is that correct?

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yep. Politics and religion. Two most important things that people say not to talk about.

D Brent Dowlen: So guys, we’ll have all of David’s links, but where is the best place for people to connect with you, David?

I.

David Pasqualone: By far, excuse me, by far. David pascal.com. When you go to that website, and Brent will probably put in the [00:35:00] show notes, you can maybe read off screen my how to spell my name. But when you go to david pascal.com, it has. The Remarkable People Podcast, RPP plus, hanging out with David Pasal and Friends. It’s Got Politics and Religion podcast.

Has all our marketing consulting, our web design, our sales coaching, and has blog articles just to help you grow. And pretty much all the material for podcast and for the blog is free, just free growth material. And where the Remarkable People Podcast is, you know. It’s not just a guest life story, what they were able to achieve or overcome, but we reverse engineer their success into practical steps.

So we as the listeners can have that success too. Then the RPP plus, the hanging out, that’s either continuing. ’cause once you tell the guest story, you can’t tell again. Right? Brent? So. Once we have the RPP plus, it’s maybe a follow up, you know, two or three years after we record the episode. Where’s the [00:36:00] guest today and what’s going on in their life?

Or maybe it’s a guest that they’re just an expert in finance or they’re just an expert in digital marketing and they’re coming on to share their tips so the listeners can grow. And the politics and religion. That’s new. We’re still evolving, but that’s just looking what’s going on in America. What actionable steps we can all take as Americans to honor God, uphold the Constitution, and we filter everything through a biblical worldview, the Bible.

D Brent Dowlen: And guys, that is a great place to actually go and spend some time with our sponsors over at MyPillow. Uh, I know Mike Lindell has been on the Politics and Religion podcast three times now.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, three times. He’s, we’re actually doing it pretty regularly right now. He’s in the trial. Um, it’s basically the defamation suit where the guy that’s suing him, I believe has like 28 suits.

He sues everybody, right? And then Dominion, I believe he was working for them. So he’s suing Mike and Dell and as far as I can see and read, it’s [00:37:00] total bs, but he’s just trying to bleed Mike Lindell and my pillow. So, but anyways, what I was saying is Mike Lindell and I. We’ve been meeting weekly and recording some clips of what’s going on in America and basically as Americans, how we can chip in together and help out, whether it’s through prayer, whether it’s through, you know, taking an action step, whether it’s through donating money, but it’s not like about me.

I’m not getting a dime. He’s not. Well, Mike will get a dime if you donate to his defense fund, which I personally donated ’cause the man’s in court right now as we speak. Defending free speech for Americans. So whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a libertarian or a communist, you should want free speech in America.

And a communist wants to take that away, but they wanna be heard now, right? So they win. So Mike Lindell is fighting for free speech right now against people who have just targeted him. You know, what do they call it? Cancel culture Lawfare and [00:38:00] he’s fighting for it. So yes, Mike’s been on the show three times.

We planned out more episodes with him. Chris Salcedo’s been on the show, gene Valentino, and we got other guests that are gonna be, you know, great, great fits for the show that’ll hopefully encourage people, entertain people, and more than anything, inspire us to fight for America.

D Brent Dowlen: So guys, if you want to get up close and personal with non-biased, take on MyPillow, Mike Lindell.

Maybe you’ve heard the name and you’re not familiar with our sponsors. Uh, I have the greatest respect for Mike Lindell and for MyPillow. I love them being connected with our show. We’re proud to have Mike Lindell and my pillow’s sponsors with MyPillow, so be sure and. Get an unbiased look, look at him outside of the big media and check it out over at the Politics and Religion podcast.

It’s a great show. I know, uh, like I saw the Chris, the Chris Alto show out recently. It was a great episode with Chris, so be sure, and I’ll have all of David’s links down below where you can actually connect with that and [00:39:00] find a show as well. David, what is the most important thing you want people to take away today from this conversation?

David Pasqualone: First thing I wanna say is for my podcast. Your podcast and most podcasts, listen through the whole episode. ’cause most podcasts get better as they go on. ’cause you start getting comfortable each other and getting zoned into a topic. So when you’re listening to podcasts, make sure you listen to the whole thing for any show, ’cause it usually gets better.

As for the final thought, it really is all about God. So no matter what’s going on in your life, no matter how it quote unquote feels. Just keep doing the right things for the right reason. Love God, love others, and everything will fall into place, never quit.

D Brent Dowlen: David, thanks for hanging out with us today.

Thanks for sharing your dad stories because of Dad stories, right? I’ve talked to men on four continents now, and all men who are dads can come together over being dads, so it’s just such a valuable conversation. Guys. Thanks for listening and hanging out with [00:40:00] us today. On the Dad podcast, a community of dads navigating life’s challenges together.

Until next time, laugh, learn and live the dad life.

Meet Our Guest

Bio

Matt Morizio

Guest Bio: David Pasqualone overcame a childhood filled with trauma, illness, and harsh criticism. Despite being told he was lazy and undisciplined, he discovered a life-threatening tumor at 18. Choosing holistic healing over conventional treatments, he defied medical odds and thrived. He later faced personal challenges, including a difficult marriage and severe health issues, but through faith and determination, he overcame them all.

Now living with purpose and surrounded by loved ones, David’s mission is to inspire others to find their purpose, live it passionately, and trust in a higher plan. His life is a testament to resilience, showing that with perseverance and faith, nothing is impossible.

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