Turning Adversity Into Influence – David Pasqualone on the Inspiring Conversations Podcast

Hello and good morning. Good E. Hello. Good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world and whatever time zone you are in. Welcome to this edition of Inspiring Conversations, and I get again, a reminder why I am doing this. And the Inspiring Con conversations are all about creating conversations that really matter.

We are diving into ways to connect deeply, break down barriers, and build moments that inspire trust and growth, whether it’s with your team at work or in your everyday chats. The realness and impact into every conversation. And still, I am in Iceland in the town of Copo. This is my beautiful. Church and everything, not mine, but the church in my tongue.

Uh, and today I am going to talk to a truly inspired, and I kid you not, he has a podcast. He has had a podcast for seven years and decided to take the 12 like best stories and put them in a book. And that book is called Remarkable People Volume One. And that volume two is almost there. You can buy this book on Amazon.

And I think without further whatever, uh, my brain is not with me. I think I have to introduce you to David Pasqualone. You are a little bit Italian brother,

so you’re a little bit Italian, so let’s hear it. Why are you Pasqualone? I thought it was Spanish. Yeah. No, so both my father’s side and mother’s side are from Italy, and, uh, my father’s side’s actually from Sicily, and my mother’s side’s from southern Italy. So the, the families didn’t like each other. They actually never got married.

But, uh, you know, here I am, I’m American, a hundred percent. I was born America. I love America, but my heritage goes back to Italy. So you are, you are number two of, uh, Sicilian born parents? Yes. Yes. Where were your parents in, uh, where, where were then Don’t tell me they were in Palermo. Uh, I won’t tell you then.

My mother’s side from co Kas Levek region, but my father was from the Palermo region. Oh, okay. So, so yes, because stuff happened there in that region, isn’t it? It’s rumored. I don’t know what’s true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let’s, let’s say that,

so David, I like yesterday because we talked ages ago and we were, we were to have this, this conversation like in the spring, but like misunderstanding and whatnot. And then yesterday when I was like diving into what we were going to do and I started reading about you and I, I just, as I mentioned to you before, like before we went on earth, like what, how, how on earth.

Are you alive? Let’s go. Like, I I it We can’t even say like, give me a snippet of your life because you have been through so much and it is really and truly remarkable that you are.

Yeah, I, I Where, where should we start? I mean, we can start anywhere. It, it could, you know, like I said, I don’t wanna bore your audience. So what we can do is I can hit some bullet points and then, you know, specific moments and then we can go from there. But I honestly just in the last 24 hours talking to a friend and a story came up, you know, there’s times in our lives where it’s just God doesn’t cause pain, but sometimes he allows, it could make us better.

And even though we don’t understand it, and the darkest places. You know, God’s light will eventually shine in for eternity will be great. So you look at stories in the Bible, like Joseph, you look in stories in the Bible of, you know, law, and you look at stories in the Bible like Jesus and all these different people in the Bible, they had hardship, but it all turned to glory.

And you had people who made bad choices like Samson David. But then you also had people that made just good choices. And no matter what happened, it turned out for God’s glory and it grew ’em. So there’s things in life that just God allows. There’s things in life that we cause, right? Mm-hmm. Things in life that are kind of in between.

Okay? So we make a bad decision. Maybe not sinful, but yet God teaches us a lesson from it. So just this morning, one of my friends is going to Nepal on a missions trip, and we were talking about the altitude and altitude sickness. And it reminded me of, in my twenties, I was traveling with a group called Neighborhood Bible Time, and we climbed Pingle Peak in Colorado, which was like 13,500 feet.

And we had no gear, no food, no equipment. It was kind of a spontaneous trip for a 4th of July weekend, as far as I know. Mm-hmm. And when I climbed to the top, it was me and two other out of 50 that made it to the summit. But my sense of direction is so terrible. I didn’t, I didn’t know where I was going, and we just said, Hey, let’s go there.

Everybody else we’re in a different direction. But when we got to the point of we had no food, no water, I’m like, okay, well if we get above the tree line, everything’s frozen, we can just melt the ice in our hands and drink it. Well between altitude, sickness and parasites. One of my buddies that went and made it to the top, he almost, he was from Peru too, so he almost had to go to the emergency room ’cause he was so sick in bed for two days.

And I walked around with just this massive headache and that’s where my friend just looked at me like, how are you still alive? And that’s the things that happened to me because I’ve done a lot of things like that that are just stupid. Yeah. I’ve done things that were just wrong and I’ve had a lot of things happen to me that I truly didn’t have control over.

Like I had a tumor in my head twice, three times. I grew it. I was sick most of my teenage years. When they finally found it, uh, they took it out. It grew back, they took it out, it grew back. I had radiation. And then what finally helped was I got off all dairy and all sugar and it just slowly of that tumor.

So, yeah, so there’s all sorts of crazy stuff, but I just wanna establish that for your listeners, no matter what you’re going through, it’s a learning experience because okay, if if we got there, if we made it, if we knew and learned all our lessons, we’d be home with God. But if we’re still here, there’s a purpose.

So despite I’ve had other chronic illnesses where I was sick for years in pain, God healed me. Some people he does, some people he doesn’t. Doesn’t mean he loves one of us more than the other. We just have a different path. And there’s been many times in my life that death was present. But I can say honestly, that since I was 15, when I trusted crisis, my savior, I might not have not liked what was going on.

I might not have known what was going on. I might have had a lot of pain about what was going on, but there was always this peace that I knew ultimately it’s gonna turn out great and it’s for my benefit. So I always had that foundation. That even the darkest moments of life that didn’t last just a couple hours, it lasted co years at times.

I always knew God was with me and had a purpose. I think I’m just a slow learner because they’ve taken a long time.

Well, you, you say that like people around you told, told you that you were lazy, undisciplined, and useless and, and you were constantly ill as a child and he like hypochondriac. Like what? It’s just like when you get bombarded with his stuff, because I was talking to a guy who he, and, and, and he got what?

He was told that because he had a mental, like, he, like his psychic was, uh, in a bad, like he, he was schizophrenic, I think. And, and the people said, like, you were, you were nothing. You will be nothing else than a monster. And, you know, how do you say that to a child? Like why, and, and, and, and when, as you say, then all of a sudden, oh, you got a tumor in your head.

Yeah. It’s maybe that is the reason I can speculate. You know, everybody, every human has the core foundation in, in, in the key areas, right? We’re all need air, we all need water. We all need love. But then we also have particulars about our personality, right? So most people who abuse were abused. That doesn’t make it right, but you just never know what goes on behind closed doors.

So, so when I’m in the right head space. Because I’m not always right when I’m in the right. Least I think if someone’s a real jerk, okay, I gotta draw a line, have a healthy boundary. But I have to remember, God loves him. He doesn’t want ’em to perish and go to attorney in the lake of fire. And there’s a reason they are the way they are.

So is it, you know, is there a way I can help them to know love and to come? But when you have people in your face, sometimes that’s difficult as a human, as a as man, meaning mankind. So why are people abusive? I don’t know. But I do know receiving the abuse. Yeah, that sucks. And it can, it still to this day, I have a lot of things that I deal with.

But it’s so much better now because I can stop and think and say that’s not true. And there’s ways I’ve developed to help me, but I’m definitely not there yet. And when I get there, I figure God will take me home or he will take me to the next level. You know? Yeah. So, but when you’re a kid, I remember everybody lied around me, or, or most people lied around me.

And I remember truth was just so valued to me, just like, I don’t care what the truth is, just tell me the truth. And I still feel that way to this day. But what was so bizarre, and I, you know how they say you, you attract what you are. I think I got, so I was in an environment that was so, I’m gonna use the word warped.

I don’t know if that’s it, but somehow I told the truth. I was gaslit and made to be the liar. And then I got so conditioned by that that it carried through into my adulthood. And I’m just recently seeing that because I make it a point not to lie because I truly believe that why bother? The only person’s opinion that really counts is God’s, right?

So you can bull crap people, you can bull crap, your spouse, your kids, you can even lie to yourself so much. You start believing it. But in your core, you know the truth, right? But you can’t lie to God. So why lie? And there’s times that it’s hard, like, you know, I remember for, you can do childhood stuff. You break a window playing ball with your friends in the street.

Well, what do most kids do? They run away. Yeah. Yeah. But the right thing to do is sit there and take the beating, you know, depending on your environment, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get beat, then you pay for the window, and then you get beat again when you get home. But the thing is, it’s character and I always hated lying, but I was never believed and that was so painful.

And then because I had that conditioning, you know, it’s like a, a woman or man who’s abused in a relationship, they finally get outta the toxic relationship. But sadly, what a nine outta 10 do, they go right back. They walk back into a toxic relationship because that is ’cause it’s mantra. They’re programmed and they didn’t know it.

So I was programmed, I was around liars and because I told the truth. They, they blame me for being a liar. And so it was just so bizarre. And then I was in the house where I was sick most of my childhood, like always catching colds. It was like having the flu for a week. And then I was good for a week and then up and down I had dark circles under my eyes and I was run down.

I couldn’t sleep right, always blowing my nose. And this didn’t go on just for weeks. It went on for years. And then finally when I was 18 in the state I was living, you become an adult at 18. So now I could tell the daughters what I needed or wanted or do this, right? And so as soon as I turned 18. I, I didn’t, I went to so many doctors and all they did is, I don’t know if it’s like this in Iceland or another place in the world, but during the eighties and nineties, you were sick.

They wrote you a prescription for antibiotics. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You must have had a hundred prescriptions for antibiotics. So when I got to my, you know, high school days in America, 14 to 18, I didn’t go to the doctor unless I absolutely had to. Like, I was gushing blood and it couldn’t be stopped. Well, during that time, I was just as sick and I didn’t realize I was getting worse.

But then when I got to 18, I had this lump in the roof of my mouth and I was always getting, like I said, sore throats and my throat would swell. So I told the doctor, I want you to take out my tonsils and adenoids. And he’s like, you don’t need it. You’re just a hypo contract. And it, it wasn’t one doctor, it was many doctors.

For some reason when I talked to ’em, they just didn’t listen. And there is some story behind that. My mom went to the doctor a lot. I think a lot of them thought my mom was a hypochondriac looking for attention. So they thought, oh, this kid is just mimicking his mother’s behavior. So okay. Nobody really took me seriously.

And then my mom did take me to a bunch of doctors at one point, and whenever she took me there, they’re like, there’s nothing wrong with him. So now it’s making me think, am I crazy? Am I hypochondriac? And there’s this back and forth. And what happened was when I was 15, it came to a head where I actually, I remember I was downstairs, I didn’t feel good.

And there was like, you know those cheap $5 long rectangle mirrors that you hang on the wall? Yeah. Yeah. I was looking at that. I’m like looking at my throat because it hurts so bad. My mom’s upstairs asleep. It was like 2:00 AM and I was in great shape. I was wrestling, you know, I was eight, I was 15, but I was in really good shape and all of a sudden I thought I was losing my mind.

And looking back, I think it’s what people would call a panic attack. And the pressure just built up. And I thought, what is going on? And then I just kinda wrote it out, but I didn’t know what happened. And I’m like, I think I really am crazy. And then about a few days later, it was a Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, the same thing happened again.

I’m by myself downstairs, it’s late, and just out of nowhere. I just get this, like, I couldn’t, not stable. Things are moving. I was terrified. So I had like, school wasn’t good, home wasn’t good. School wasn’t good. I felt like crap. They’re telling me a hypochondriac, you know, normal teenage pressures. Yeah, yeah.

You know, I’m in a, you know, money was always an issue in the home and there was a lot of issues outside of that. So there’s just a lot of pressure. It just converged. And at that moment, I remember going upstairs and waking up. My mom, I’m like, mom, I think I’m going crazy. And she said, well, what do you want me to do about it?

And then in my head, the thought came, there was always a pastor that would knock on our doors and invite us to church. And he’d be down at the basketball courts playing with us, asking us to come to church or youth group. And then he’d always be there. And for some reason at 2:00 AM I’m like, I wanna go to church.

And she’s like, all right, I’ll bring you, but I’m not going. Because we went to that church for a short time when I was 10 years old, like 10 to 11. And she had a fallen out with the pastor and she didn’t want to go back. And going back to history, man, I don’t want to jump around, but basically I was born to an Italian American home.

Right? Well, what are most Italian Americans? Catholic. So my grandmother and my family is all Catholic on one side. Well then my mom gets, she says, born again. You know, this time that people, uh, man, I almost just said Billy Sunday, not Billy Sunday. Great preacher. He died in the last couple years. Uh, Graham, Billy Graham.

Thank you. Thank you. Billy Graham was going around. Well, she ends up going to a church that was a psycho church and it was really a cult. Like I said, it as a child and looking back, I’m even more certain. So my experience was, I believe there was a God, but I didn’t know who God was and I didn’t feel it on the Catholic side.

I didn’t feel it on this. This, this other church. My mom was going to. I’m like, this isn’t right. And I remember at four years old telling her, mom, these people are weird. Something’s wrong. Well then when my grandmother died, the pastor came to her and said, why didn’t you call me sooner? I could have resurrected your mother from the dead.

So thank God that woke my mother up to say, this guy’s nuts. So then from five to 10, we never went back to any church, any religion. And then 10 to 11, my mom started going to this church where I heard the gospel, but nothing registered. I was 10 years old. And then from 11 to 15, no church, all this pressure, depression, sadness, everything’s going on.

And then I have this breaking point where I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m like, I knew in my heart go to church. And go to that church, Milford Bio Baptist Church, pastor Cal Coon and his wife Bev. So when I go to church, it’s a Wednesday night service. And in New England, the churches are very small and there’s maybe 50 people in there.

And I remember not knowing the difference between a Bible and a hymnal at that point, and the pastor’s preaching, and I’m listening and I had questions. Well, in America, again, it’s not like this all over the world, but in America, when you have a question, you raise your hand. So guess what I did? I raised, and guess what the pastor did?

He stopped what he was saying and answered my question. Okay? Yeah. And this went on the entire service. So then I went back, he said there was youth group on Thursdays. So I went back Thursday and I knew there’s church Sunday morning, Sunday night. So I went back, I was trying to learn, so for three weeks at least, maybe longer, I’m sending Sunday morning services.

And when he says something, I raise my hand and nobody said a word to me, not one person. And then, uh, one Thursday night, the church was down like a hill. ’cause in New England they go like underground, like a basement. You have like first, second story. Well, we were walking from the basement up to the road and the pastor’s puts his arm around me.

Super great man. And he is like, Dave. He’s like, it’s, he goes, it seems like you have a lot of questions. I’m like, yeah. He’s like, well, sadly we don’t have a lot of men in our church that have the time. He’s like. But I have a friend, a couple towns over who I spoke with, and he’s willing to disciple you. Is that something you’d be interested in?

I’m like, what’s discipling? He’s like, basically he sits down with you with the Bible and answers your questions. Okay. Yeah. Oh yeah, I’d like that. So he sets it up for this guy to come over. And the gentleman that came over, I’ve never met, so I invite my friends to come with me and I remember, I think I had to like bribe them.

Like, dude, I’ll give you this if you just Right. I don’t wanna be alone with a strange man. Yeah. So he comes over and again, and I still couldn’t drive at this point. I’m 15 and he just starts going through this book with me and we’re going through the book, the Seven Steps to Joy, trying to teach me the fundamentals of Christianity.

But as we’re going through and it’s shooting off in all these categories and all these different questions, you know, what are dinosaurs? What are aliens? And he’d always, pastor Carl would do this and he and Tony would do this, bring it back to the, Hey, we can talk about that later, but let’s talk about this right now.

Or they’d hit it on enough to satisfy me and then we’d move on. Not that they were trying to hide anything, but the million details don’t matter if you don’t have the core foundation. Not just believing there’s a God, but trusting him. So at this point, I end up understanding that I’m a sinner, which I totally believed that Jesus died for my sins.

And it says, who for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. So I got saved and I kid you not within, like in that moment I felt joy. Not everybody has a radical transformation, but for me, all that fear, all that craziness, all that pressure was just gone. And I remember, um. From 15 to 2015, not only did I not swear, but it wasn’t even in my heart.

Like if somebody cut me off in traffic or somebody did anything, the words didn’t even come out. Um, it, it wasn’t even a thought process for me to have that in my heart. So God really did just change me. And even though I was still sick, even though no, none of the circumstances changed, I just had this peace.

And then also this guy would come twice a week and I, my friends would keep coming. So my best friends got saved. I got saved and it was just a beautiful, beautiful thing. And then to this day, I still stay in touch with Pastor Carl and his wife Beth. So I’m super thankful. But if I wasn’t sick and didn’t get to the point of thinking, I’m losing my mind from all the lies everybody else was telling me, I wouldn’t have known Christ, at least not at that point.

And then from 15 to 18, I knew I was sick, but I just stopped going to the doctors. And then when I turned 18, I went to the doctors, told ’em, I’m like, Hey, take it out. I’m like, you get kickbacks. ’cause at that point the doctors got kickbacks every time they ran a CAT scan. Every time they ran an MRI, every time they did a surgery, you know, they get kickbacks.

So I’m like, Hey, get your next BMW payment. Cut out my tonsils and adenoids, let’s see if it helps. So the guy’s like, yeah, yeah, whatever. And then a week before the surgery I had to go in to do a, a pre-op. They used to do like an inspection. You just make sure you’re ready for surgery. So when I go in, the nurse sees the giant lump I have in the roof of my mouth, which I told all the doctors about.

It was just sitting there growing and she calls him in ’cause she’s like concerned and he is like, ah, it’s just an abscess. He’s like, get a CAT scan just to make sure it’s not where near where we’re cutting. But other than that, he’s fine. Just give him antibiotics and I’m just like, whatever. You know, at this point I just.

I just want to get through it. So then I go and I get this CAT scan, and one of the things about the tumor is it was suffocating me and I couldn’t think straight and I couldn’t sleep normal, but yet, because I couldn’t sleep, I was always falling asleep, right? Fall asleep in class, fall asleep in church.

If I sat down from only 10 seconds, I’m falling asleep and I’m always exhausted. So I’m at home sleeping on the couch. My friend’s over watching television. My mom gets home from work late, but between six 30 and eight when my mom got home, I get a phone call from the daughter and they said over the phone to me, they’re like, Hey, we got your CAT scan.

You have an inoperable tumor, probably cancerous. We need you to come in right now for a biopsy. And instantly I felt relief. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. The doctor’s telling me all this crazy stuff and I’m like, no, I’m good. I’m like, it’s been in there and at this point I’m wrestling, I’m boxing, I’m active, and I just had this tumor in my head, but I knew nothing about it, but I knew it was real.

So I remember I hung up the phone and my best friend is like, what? What’s going on? I’m like, I’ll tell you when my mom gets home. And I laid on the couch and took another hour nap and just felt great. ’cause I knew mentally like, okay, I’m not crazy. So then I tell my mom and my best friend what the doctor said, and she panics and blah, blah, blah.

Well, then I go in and they find out that it is in fact a tumor the size of a, you know, big orange, small grapefruit, and uh, had a tail down my throat. And that explained all a lot of what was going on, and there’s so much more. There’s so much more. So I don’t wanna waste any of your listeners’ time or your time.

But basically the tumor I had was supposed to be a small pea-sized tumor in the nose that only men get, and it’s a vascular tumor that bleeds a lot. Maya was way back in, my sinus grew to a huge mass, even though it wasn’t malignant, it was acting malignant and the speed and the, and the way it was growing, it was deteriorating the bone in my palate and my jaw.

It was taking nutrients and blocking blood flow flow to my brain and it was nasty. So what’s crazy is, again, how did I live God? Because you gotta, people get nosebleeds with a small peas size one. I was taking punches regularly. Yeah. And I never have had a nosebleed in my life. So, but, but, but it must be something in your DNA because there, there is like, okay.

At least I, I think that you have some purpose in life. Like, because if you, if you look at the hardship, like when you lose a child at the age of five or 14, like, then you think, well, yeah, that was their mission. Like that was their time. Like, and it’s just like you are, you are here and you are alive because you are supposed to do something, uh, in a way.

But David, uh, like rap, a good friend of mine from uk, he asked, like, your courage is truly enlightening. Uh, was it your health that, uh, drove you to seek solace or do you think it was the lack of support around you? Like. What do you think came first? Like the lack of, like, was it the lack of support around you because you did not have your father, you, and you lived with the person who murdered your aunt?

Like what? Yeah, yeah. No bunkers. Yeah. And there of course, you know, everybody has a, but see, this is it. Everybody has problems. Everybody has a story. I just happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Your mind. But no, it was definitely missing. I believe every human needs love and God is love. And until you fill that void in your heart, it’s just emptiness and depression and sadness.

So obviously I had a lot of things going on, but once you have Christ in your life, it doesn’t matter what happens. ’cause like I said, even in the deepest depth, and I’ve had some things way worse than this, I was okay because I knew God was with me. And you just knew he loves you. And if you’re going through it, remember Satan’s a scumbag.

Mm-hmm. Satan’s the one that causes all the problems. Satan’s the one that causes all the pain. He tricks people to believe it’s God. It is not. It is Satan. 1000000% if that was possible. Right? It’s a hundred percent Satan. So I knew that if God caused it or allowed something to happen to me, there was a purpose.

But when it came to the, you know, what came first, the sadness, it was absolutely the sadness of having that, you know, the biblical models to have the father and the mother and the loving supporting family and to have community and to be able to speak openly. You know, I didn’t have any of that really.

You know, my mom loved me, but she had her own set of issues. And my grandmother died when I was four, and I watched her die painfully at cancer spread through her whole body. And then my uncle, he was military and when I was right around the time she died, he moved to California. So my dad, very wealthy man, lived 40 minutes away, never once came to see me.

So it, it, the whole situation was just like, you’re useless. I actually had people tell me all the time, you’re useless, you’re no good. But the, the one that stuck was there was a, a, uh, he was older than me, but he had a messed up home, him and his two brothers. And man, I really love this guy, and looked up to him.

So I think he was like 10, 15 years older than me. So I looked like, looked up to him like a big brother. And then one day he just looked at me and shook his hand. He is like, you’re useless. You’re tits on a bull. And that just crushed. Okay. You know? Mm-hmm. A bull, what do you need Tets for? Right? So that was like, it was funny, but it was freaking crushing.

’cause I knew he meant it. And I, I don’t know why all this stuff happened, but it did. And it all, it either is making me a better man, or it has already made me a better man. And then it’ll do the same thing for your listeners. But, but when you say that you, like God loves you, Jesus love you, and he died for your sins and everything, but what about you in all of this, how, like, how did you learn to love yourself?

Because that must also be a thing if you don’t love yourself. How can you love others? Yeah. So it’s interesting because as you, when you read the Bible, God talks to you when you pray primarily. He can talk to you a bunch of ways. You can talk to him of ies. When we read our Bible, that’s our primary way.

God speaks to us. And then through the Holy Ghost, you have an unction inside you. You know all things right? And then when we pray, that’s how we talk to God. So the more I read my Bible, the more I saw he loved me. And a great place for people to start is the Book of John. It talks a lot about God’s love and as I am growing up, as empty as things were, God always puts somebody in my life.

He put Pastor Carl in my life. He put Tony Stefanini in my life. Then I go off to college. He puts other families in my life. Then as I’m traveling, he puts, uh, you know, friends like Seth Meyers in my life. And then I get introduced to Brother Holscher and Tim Tut neighborhood Bio Time, and Paul Mick. So there was always like this person that he put in my life to say, Hey buddy, I love you, so it’s gonna be okay.

You’re not alone. Even though it seems you’re alone. You’re not alone. So that’s why, and like when I was a kid, I loved my uncle and I looked up to him. He was just physically not there. But I knew when I talked to him, he loved me. Um, so I don’t know if that answers your question or not, but I think in everybody’s life, some people have it a million.

Seriously. A million times worse. And they find a way. Yeah. And God puts us in us, the ability, there’s no temptation that’s taken us that we can’t and endure be. Right. And how we do it is just like Jesus did in the garden when Saint attempted Jesus in the garden. Do you remember how he responded? No. He spoke scripture out loud.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s what I do. You know, the, I shall not attempt. So when Satan put something in our ear. In our mind, even outright, somebody says it to us. If it’s bull crap, it’s bull crap. Sometimes we believe it’s true. I believe a lot of it to this day, I’m still trying to adjust and, and get healthy in some areas, right.

But what I do now is I write down the lie, I write down the truth next to it, and I’ll read the scripture out loud and it goes away. And it’ll try saying, I’ll always try to bring it back. But you just keep bringing scripture, keep speaking truth. ’cause there’s nothing more powerful than God and the word of God and love.

So, but be because it’s still, for me, it’s, it’s tempting to say because the people who go from one toxic relationship into another, and it, it, it, it sounds like they are, that they are, um, are just willing or able. Did you, did you lose my track or did you hear me? Because like when you are in a toxic relationship and you go to another, like, then you meet another person or you want to live, then you, you go into a next toxic relationship.

And, and if you don’t, for me, if you don’t love yourself, because is it easier for you? Like, do you love yourself? Because if you, if you love yourself, then you can give love. It’s not like the, like what is perpetrating from your heart? Like if you love yourself, because I am just wondering now, how the heck did you being raised up in this craziness that you have been talking about?

Still, you are healthy now. You live life as like, as you say, like you, you double check you, you listen to the lie or you try to find the truth and you listen to read the Bible, like whatever you do to just cope. And, and it’s just because you are, for me, I just sense that you are a, a, a great person. Like you have geist and, and, and, but, but for me it’s just, if I would not love myself, then I probably wouldn’t be doing this, uh, because then I would not be listening.

Uh, and uh, you know, I would not be open-hearted maybe, or like, but how do you see that before we go in, dive into your work as a, like your podcast and, and, and our topic, like how to change things. Yeah. So you, maybe this is a good, maybe, maybe this is a good segue into like turning adversity into influence.

How do you do this stuff? Yeah, no, I, you hit on so many key life elements and points. Uh, hopefully I’ll be able to remember and repeat and, and answer. But number one, you’re a hundred percent right. When someone’s in a dysfunctional relationship or a functional relationship, they’re attracted to what they know.

So I knew a narcissistic, abusive gaslighting inner circle. Okay, guess what? I married 24 years. Yeah, no tell. I’m telling you, I did everything I could, but I’m still learning to love myself and I’m so much further. Than I was. But again, it’s kind of like there’s times in our lives where things are going well and you’re extra strong.

Things don’t bother you. Well then maybe you, you eat a bunch of sugar and your immune system’s low, and now a virus comes and you’re not as strong and now you get sick. Right. So our emotions and our mental state of the statement, if we’re strong and everything’s going well, it’s easy to fight off the attacks.

But if we’re in a low point mm-hmm. We’re slacking off our personal life, we’re getting lazy, spiritually, emotionally, well then the attacks can break through. So that’s something people need to realize. You’re never gonna be impervious and there’s things that you are weaker to. There’s things that I’m weaker to.

Like, if somebody walked up and said, you fat, ugly, blank to me, I’d be like, all right, thanks for your opinion. Walk off. I know I’m 40 pounds overweight. I’m good with that. I don’t care about you. Yeah. It’s my life. I choose to be like this. Yeah. Yeah. Or I know it, dude. You don’t need to remind me. But it really, like, that doesn’t bother me.

That doesn’t bother me at all. It’s like, thanks for your opinion. Okay. Have a good day. But then there’s other things that if people say to me, it crushes me on the inside, and Satan knows that. Right. You have the same thing. All of your listeners have the same thing. So for me, I hear, uh, do I, do you want me to, can I speak?

Can I cuss on your show or just, do you want me to change? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And if you like, yes, let go for it. Okay. Well, what I’m, I just wanna, what I hear when I’m not in a good place. What saying always try to bring in, even when I’m in a good place, is you’re worthless piece of shit. Yeah. You have no value.

You’re no good. You know, if you die today, the world will go on. You’re even your own family wouldn’t notice or care. You know, I hear that a lot, but then when I’m in on the right mind space, but then when I am in the right mind space, it’s like, no, that’s not true. That’s a lie. So whether it’s good, bad, you know, quote unquote good or bad times, we have to stay consistent in our behavior and our relationships with God and with each other.

And what I found works really well for me is before bed, or if I have nightmares, I’ll get up in the middle of the night and again, I just write down everything handwritten in a journal. Not typing it, not abbreviating it. I’m not doing like essays or paragraphs, but it’s like. The Jesus says, cast your burns on me for, you know, for my yoke is easy and my burn is light.

So I write down everything that’s bothering me. And then I write the truth if I have the mindset at that time. But either way I say, God, I need your help with this. Whether it’s financial, whether it’s personal, whether it’s just like believing I’m useless. ’cause like that’s just the point. You know how many times I’ve thought exactly what you said to me?

Why am I alive? Because my own self says you’re a worthless piece of trash with no value. That’s Satan putting that in my head. And honestly, that’s what a lot of people told me throughout my life, but I’ve had other people as I just stayed the course and you don’t quit. You never give up, run the race.

It’s set before you. And that is, that is the key right there. I believe when people say what’s, I don’t feel like I’m special or different. I’m special that God loves me, but you’re special ’cause God loves you in a different way. It’s like having children when people say, you know, who are your favorites? I have a son and a daughter.

I truly love them equally, but different. And people don’t understand that, especially if you don’t have kids. You love your children equally, but it’s a different relationship ’cause they’re different people. So my son and I have a different relationship than my daughter and I. Mm-hmm. And that doesn’t change the love I have for them.

And that’s the same with God. So when I get in the low moments, but then I remember if I’m going through this moment, there’s a purpose. Then things get better. And there was a huge paradigm shift I had, I’ll tell you about in a second. Uh, just remind me that at church with the handicap young man, but.

If you’re struggling with bad thoughts, what I used to have 20 hours a day, now I have five hours a day. So, or sometimes I don’t have bad thoughts at all. And then you look, a lot of times the Bible talks about landmarks and successes, not bragging or boasting, but you look back at all the great things God’s done through you or with you or for you.

And that’s just hope that gives you more faith. That gives you just enthusiasm, like you said earlier. Enthusiasm breathes enthusiasm. Positivity breeds positivity. Well, guess what else? Negativity breeds negativity. Hate breeds hate. So there’s power in the tongue. We wanna use that power positively. So if you’re struggling with that self-loathing, what’s worked for me?

If speak life, speak power, and don’t, I don’t lie, like even to myself. Like, I’m not gonna say I’m a skilled metal worker. You know, I’m not a skilled metal worker. I’m not a brain surgeon, but I have a purpose. God loves me. I don’t know what it is, and I’m like, you, I’m dead serious. Sometimes I even think, dude, you should be dead so many times.

So many times. Three tumors. Then when I got, when I was in my thirties, we didn’t talk about this. I got bad dental work. They hit my trigeminal nerve. So between pain and infection, I was being poisoned for two years. Then I went three years and agony every day before they found it. I dropped down to a hundred, like 30 pound, 38 pounds or something, and they told me to make up well, my will and get my affairs in order.

I’m not even gonna talk about that stuff today, but it’s like so much stuff’s happening to me. I made bad decisions, like I said, climbing that mountain. That was a choice, right? Bad choice. Or not climate, but not being prepared. Then I remember when I was 18, even though God saved me, even though God changed my life, I’m in California with my cousin and eight of her gorgeous friends and one guy and they’re like, Hey, let’s go to clubs.

All right. I’m not that type of guy, but I just wanted to fit in. I wanted to have a good time. Well, where do they take me? We go to Tijuana, Mexico. Okay. There was nothing godly there. I saw, I saw that night, like television, I saw a stabbing. I saw somebody get a bottle broken and shoved in their gut. I saw a gun.

I heard a gunshot go off and saw the flash, and these are all different places. And then on the way out we’re fi I finally convinced these people, we need to leave. On our way out, we see this circle of like trucks and cars with a spotlight and someone’s beating. Mercilessly another person. Everybody in the circle’s watching and we’re squinting through the spotlights and we hear in Spanish leave or You’re next.

And that’s when I realized that was their police beating someone to death. And I’m like, taxi, this was before cell phone, right? We’re outta here. I deserve to die that night. And then when we get back to Southern California, like 20, like it wasn’t even 24 hours later, I started seeing spots and started hurting.

And I’m on the floor in the bathroom. I drank ice all night long. ’cause I didn’t drink alcohol until this day. Like, I’m not against it, but I, I don’t care about alcohol. Right? I saw so many people get addicted and hurt that before I had no alcohol. Between like when I got saved 15 till about, I don’t know, five years ago.

And then every once in a while, somebody offers me a drink, I’ll have it. But that’s between you and God. Right. But what I’m saying is I never drank. Well, I saw everybody in Tijuana. I’m ignorant. I’m 18 years old. I think. Actually I was 17 at that point. I wasn’t even legal. Like 18 legal Uhhuh. Yeah. And everybody had drinks with ice in it.

So I thought, oh, they must, they must filter the ice so it’s safe for Americans. So I just kept getting glasses of ice water. So I drank a lot of water straight from Tijuana, Mexico. Mm-hmm. And I tell you, 24 hours later, I was so sick. And I’m thinking if I die, I deserve it. And then I remember being like that for five days.

I go home to Massachusetts. I have one week I had to stay outta school a week. The, the school started in September. I’m late for school a week. ’cause I have this montezuma’s revenge and then everything’s fine for a week. And then in the middle of class, like a light switch, bang, I’m out for another two days.

So, you know, that’s like a funny story. But there’s been so many things like that, so many car accidents and incidences. Then I’m like, why am I alive? Because I’ll tell you what, I’ve never been suicidal because I believe in God. That’s the only, that’s the reason. But there’s been many points where I’m like, I hope I die.

You know what I mean? I, I’m fighting for my life ’cause it’s the right thing to do. But if I died, I wouldn’t be disappointed because what’s, what’s gonna happen? I go to, I go to eternity with Christ and I’m with God and it’s no more pain, no more problems. But then the balance side says, okay. You’re gonna, if you’re here still, if you’re alive still, there’s a reason why you’re here and you need to fulfill the mission.

You need to finish the course. You need to complete what God’s called you to do. So that’s why I’ve never been suicidal, but there been, have been such dark moments in my life. I’m like, you know, if I died today, I’d be okay with it. So, but, but yeah, in that sense, I believe that you are still here because you, there is some purpose.

Like you have your daughter and son, and you are t like you are learning to be in a normal environment. Like you are giving them love, you are giving them your, like, what you have figured out and stuff. So they almost break the cycle if you like, if you know what I mean. But man, that’s, that’s a whole other topic though.

Satan hated me into like the situation right now. I, I, I, I have to respect, I don’t care about my ex-wife, but I care about my children. Yeah. So we went through a terrible time. The kids didn’t know for 14 years of stuff that would happen, and I didn’t tell anybody. ’cause I thought, you’re married, you give a vow, you stay.

Well. Then my wife really derailed in 2015 and for like four years, she had a terrible relationship with the kids and they begged me to get a divorce almost every day. And I should have, I’m being completely transparent. So to help my wife at that point, I sacrificed myself and my children. I spent four years helping her reestablish a connection with the children, and she repays me by filling their heads with total lies.

So our relationship now with my son, most people consider good. But I know how close we were, and I know there’s real walls between us and time will always reveal the truth. And eventually, even if it’s an eternity, the relationship with my son will be whole again. I’m looking forward to that more than anybody knows, unless they’re going through it.

Um, the relationship with my daughter is still terrible and I love her, but we barely talk. And when we do, it’s, it’s not necessarily a beautiful thing. So again, what I wanted, I, I think in my yearbook I actually wrote like, you know, when you put in the future, whatever, it was like, I just wanna honor God and my family.

I just wanted a family ’cause I didn’t have that growing up. Mm-hmm. I just wanted a wife and children that I can love and, and, and honor God with. So again, even that it’s, I’ve looked at it and what’s crazy is if people, there’s probably, hopefully there’s not a large part of the population, but. Things my kids experienced and told counselors.

That’s documented right in the notes. If you ask them about those same experiences now their memories are totally different. And somehow I’m this bad guy and like I’ve told ’em a thousand times, I’m like, I, I will own anything I’ve done. But this didn’t happen. It’s not true and it’s so frustrating and painful.

But you know, the Bible says, here’s convicting for me. It says only through pride come with contention. So am I super proud or is this just the path God has for me to purge something out of me? He sees, because you look at, and I’m not comparing myself to Joseph in the Bible, but what I’m saying is that man did nothing wrong and he didn’t just have a month or a year of pain and suffering.

He went over 30 years. Before God’s glory showed. Right? So that gave that story and other stories in the Bible gave me huge hope. And so in the darkest moments, again that kept me hanging on. It’s like Joseph did nothing wrong. Sometimes this is just how God has things and it will ultimately be better.

But yeah, I, my, my life to me would be near perfect right now if my relationship with my children was whole and not just what I wanted. Just real, honest and true and agree to disagree, you know, but have a real relationship and that closeness, that fellowship, not just we used to, but that is how God intended it.

So that is a huge heartbreak in my life to this day. But how is because, uh, we are like, time flies when you’re having fun. And, and this has been a, like one of those just discussions where like you are, you are, you are really great. Oh, and people, this is not because he is, uh, he is allergic, so he, he doesn’t want to portray his, it’s not all all over, but, but like, how, like when and, and when you say like, because turning adversity, we have five minutes, uh, turning adversity into influence.

Like when you started your podcast seven years ago and, and you name like, the book is called Remarkable People, how they overcame adversity achieve success, and You Can Too. So, so how is that your mission now? Or like when did you realize because. As, as, uh, rabbi. He, he has another, he has another question here.

He says, like they say, faith gives you purpose when you can’t find it. Has your purpose changed and has that changed you? So when you started the, the, like the journey with the podcast, was that a thing that you wanted to give others? That there is hope? There is, yes. A purpose in life. So

there’s purpose and I believe every human’s purpose is to glorify God, period. Yeah. Um, and then, uh, John and I have this on my website, in my about section John 15, eight says, to glorify God and bear much fruit. Now within that we have different missions and that’s. What we’re all called to do at that time.

So, you know, if you have like a military, they have different missions and they complete the mission, they come back and they get the next mission. So, does my purpose ever change to glorify God? No. Does my mission, the vision God gives you change? Yeah. ’cause you’re ready for the next level or next, next part of your life.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then we’re all driven by the same core values and beliefs. You know, some people go as basic as a 10 Commandments, but the whole Bible is full of commandments. And we want to be a person who is as wholly as humanly possible without sin. And that’s a big misnomer that people, people are like, I can’t be perfect.

I can’t be perfect. Yeah, you can. Jesus says, be perfect. Like I’m perfect. Right. So perfection doesn’t mean without sin. It needs to be whole. That’s something we can strive for and achieve. Now, holy holiness, we can only be holy and without sin through Christ. And that’s a beautiful thing that he gave us that gift.

Uh, but to answer your question, the question I believe was, can your purpose change? The overall arching purpose of your life is to glorify God. So no, but if God’s calling you to something now that may change down the road, but you have to be really honest and self-reflecting. Are you quitting or did you legitimately finish it?

And if you legitimately finished it, did you run the race set before you and do it the right way? Or did you cut corners? So that’s why every day you need to be talking to God. Every day. You need to be in the word. Every day. You need to have friends and family, even strangers who just tell you the truth.

Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten and anywhere from people I that didn’t like me. And they three minutes or hurt me. Like I remember one time I took a, I paid to be in a marketing mastermind. I think all over the world people have ’em, but you get in a group with other business owners and you, you brainstorm.

But there was a guy who was running the mastermind and he never really liked me and I think it would frustrate him because he was an older man and been there, done that. And I, I was like, I’m here to learn from him. I truly had that, like I professionally, I thought, this guy’s fantastic. And then after like a year of being in his class, he came up to me privately and he’s like, Pascal alone, you need to shit or get off the pot.

He’s like, you don’t belong in here. He is like, you should be teaching one of these. Not in it. He’s like, oh, okay. You need to freaking make a decision to go do something with your life. And he meant professionally, or he is like, stop talking about it and, and just be an employee. So I was like, all right.

And it was a lot of truth that he didn’t deliver. It made with the right heart, the right way, but the message was true. So that is what I’m saying now. When I was starting the podcast, I was at the, the middle of this chaotic time in my life. Family I’m trying to hold together. My ex-wife is doing crazy things, lying about it again, it makes you think, are you crazy?

And I’m like, no. And I knew that was what’s awesome because of everything that happened to me in my teenage years in my childhood, I was able to handle the adversity for my ex-wife. Because all the stuff before, if I didn’t experience that, it would’ve been new and I would’ve been broken. I would end up in a mental institution.

But whenever it could bad, I’m like, no, that’s not true that I didn’t know what gaslighting was, but I knew what it was like. I didn’t know the term or the history behind it, but I experienced it all the time. I’m like, that’s bunk not true. Move on. You can tell other people, but I’m not gonna let you mess with my head.

So when all that was going on, I thought, okay, I’m supposed to be a Christ-like I’m supposed to be. You know, an example, yet I’m going through a massive failure of a marriage and a divorce, and that really blew my mind. And I didn’t know. I still don’t know how to fully process it to be completely transparent.

So I’m like, how can I have value and tell people about Christ who don’t know him, help people who have trusted him, grow. But clearly I can’t be in the ministry as like, you know, I never felt called to be a pastor, but how could I be in the, some kind of ministry with this divorce? And then, you know, I’m going through all these feelings of now inadequacy, Saint’s, trying to exploit what’s going on.

And I’m like, okay, well what can I do? And I’m praying about purpose, like what is, what does this phase of my life look like? God. And I kid you not head, and I didn’t even listen to podcast. I didn’t really know what a podcast was. And God starts laying on my heart, you need to start a podcast. And I’m like, what?

And then one day I’m at the fights. I like, you know what MMA is? Yeah. Yeah. So in America, the big ones, UFC, probably overseas is one O-E-O-N-E. Uh, there’s all different. So I’m at the local civic center watching the fights, and I meet this guy, we’re we’re at the VIP tables on the floor, and you just knew this guy isn’t a normal human, he just exuded excellence.

So I start talking to him and joking around with him, come to find out he’s an eight time world kickboxing champion. He, he’s got this remarkable story and in my head and heart, God’s like, you need to interview him. Like interview him. I don’t, I don’t have a TV show. I don’t know what a podcast is, but I’m like, and I was at the point he where I want to be obedient and I wasn’t like necessarily.

Questioning God. I was questioning myself like, am I making this crap? Am I going like nuts? And I’m making this in my head. I’m like, what is this? So it wasn’t that I was trying to disobey God, it’s that I didn’t believe myself, that it didn’t make, it made so little sense to me. I thought it must be me. And that goes back to that core abuse and lack of confidence as a kid that I’m still dealing with as an adult.

And again, it’s getting better, but see, can you see the correlation there? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don’t trust the Holy Ghost inside of myself when go is clearly speaking. So then the guy’s like, Hey, let’s get together for lunch. I’m like, yeah, it sounds good. So I get his information, I give him mine, and we go on our way.

And then like a week later, this is kinda what I’m just gonna speed through. I’m at a luncheon with a business associate and we see a third party we don’t know, and the woman’s on the phone talking. And the girl I was with wanted to meet her. ’cause she’s like, she’s just so passionate. And I’m like, she’s probably a business co.

Or a speaker, motivational speaker. And like, I’m like, she’s probably like some kind of like fitness instructor or whatever. And she’s talking to a client. And I actually said that, right? So she wouldn’t talk to her. Well then we start talking about a podcast and how she always wanted start a podcast and interview people.

And I’m like, you’re not gonna believe this. And I tell her leading me to start a podcast, but I don’t really know what it is. So she explains to me what a podcast is, and I’m like, well, would you wanna do this together? We’ll, we’ll meet people, we’ll interview ’em. And she’s like, yes. So I’m like, okay. So we’re kind of talking about, but nothing was set in stone, but we agreed to do it.

So the lady already left that third party about 30 minutes into our meeting, and our meeting goes almost two hours. At the end of two hours, I walk out of the Panera bread and I’m in the parking lot. I park on the right and guess who’s parked to my left. That lady still talking with her hands, all passionate.

She’s just in her car now and God’s like, you need to interview her. I’m like, what? Right. That’s it. I’m like, I knock on her window and I hold up my hand. I’m still married at this point and I said, Hey, I’m sorry to bother you and this is gonna sound crazy. T shoot me, but feel free to roll up your window.

I’m like, my name’s David Pascal. I am thinking about starting a podcast. You seem super passionate about whatever it is you’re doing. I’d love to have that kind of enthusiasm on the show. Is that something you’re interested in? And she starts laughing. She’s like, I’m a motivational speaker and I have fitness coaching.

That’s what I’m doing now. And she’s on your show. And I’m like, all right. I’m like, well, and I, I think I say about, yeah, I’m like, I’m like a married man. I’m not hitting on you. I’m like, this is legit. So I get her number. She gives me mine, so I get in my truck and head in. I’m like, all right, well one, let’s do that one down.

Let’s do another. Hey, Cisco, this is Day Pasqua. We’ve been at the fights. Hey, man, how you doing? I’m doing good, man. I’m like, I’m starting a podcast. It’s like, what’s a podcast? I’m like, it’s like a radio or TV show that you record ahead of time, and then people listen when they want on their cell phone, but it’s only audio you interested?

Yeah, man, that’ll be great. Whatever you need. I’m like, all right, cool. Click. That’s how the show started. And then we did the one episode with that young lady, and then the lady that I was supposed to start the show with. Backed out. And that first episode we, we aired and then pulled it because we found out some stuff.

So the episode started where God told me to start with Cisco, and his story is remarkable. He was born to a woman and, and you gotta listen to it, but it’s the, obviously my questioning and the story, it’s audio only. But he was born to a woman, you know, she wasn’t married, she was like 20, the guy was like 65.

She had some problems, if you know what I mean, like drugs and alcohol. He’s four years old and he’s keeping her from lighting the house on fire. He ends up living with his, his uncle and aunt. He ends up, I mean, this one thing after another after, oh, he was given to the wrong family at birth on top of it.

They had to get him back. And then he ends up going to, uh, going to a farm and they find out he’s, he was always super athletic and he could dance good. So they get him on the football team. And then he ends up going to college for football, but then he has to come back to help out. Then the New England Patriots recruit him and he breaks his back in the first game.

And this was before all the, you know, money and all the insurance. So they’re basically like, you know, go, good luck with that. Then he ends up being in a wheelchair and next door is a chiropractor, and the chiropractor helps him walk again. And then he is like, well, now that you can walk, you should exercise.

So the guy gets into karate and kickboxing, it becomes an eight time world kickboxing and karate champion, and it just goes on and on. So that was my first, so talking about, but okay, now you have, like, you, you are your first one who, uh, like you could talk forever, man. You like, we are 10 minutes, almost 10 minutes over.

Like, no, but, but it sounds like it’s just the thing, like for me, what I take out of this conversation is. Life throws at you a curve ball, and you have the aims, and you have the means to either cave in or go and say, this is just another mountain I have to climb up. And, and, and like, it’s nothing like you are just going through stuff and you, you are learning because like who says that, of course it is sad that you divorce, uh, divorced your wife and la la la la.

But, but I think that is just one of the teachings in life, isn’t it? It’s just like life throws at you a curve ball. But, and, and because he is a very funny guy and he says that this conversation has been inspiring and he thanks you, but he ask you if you can tell me that it’s not wrong to be wrong, like I should give.

Myself, more chance to get better is so funny. This man, but not funny. Yeah, no, at all. I mean, if you’re And I,

sorry. No, what I was gonna say is, if you’re willfully in sin, like, Hey, I’m gonna go sleep with this prostitute and repent later, your heart’s not in the right place. But failure, it says a just man. Yeah. It says A just man falls seven times and rises up again. And you know, when the apostles ask Jesus, how many times should we forgive?

Seven and Jesus, like 70 times seven in, in a day. And that wasn’t really even a number, it was just, you just forgive. So you have, we have to forgive ourselves. We have to forgive each other. And again, when it comes to other people, if somebody rapes a child, I might forgive them, but I’m not gonna be ignorant and let them babysit.

Okay? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Forgiveness. Grace, mercy, all different things. And there’s a lot of churches these days that try to preach just the prosperity, just the love, and they open their mind so far their brains fell out. So you gotta make sure it says a false balance as abomination to the Lord, but a just wait is his delight.

So we need to make sure we have that balance. But yeah, if you’re screwing up, you just bring it to Christ, you ask him to forgive you and you are washed in the blood and you move forward. And it, trust me, I screw up all the time. I consciously sin off it. But you get it right and you move on and that’s the difference.

Satan’s gonna try. Actually, this is great. This is a truth. I don’t know where I learned it, but the girl that I’ve been dating for four years, she reminded me of this the other day and I’m so thankful for her. If you feel guilt and shame, that’s from. Okay, guilt and shame is from Satan conviction and the urging to get things right.

That’s from God. And the other big difference is if I sin and I’m like, Lord, forgive me. And then if I ascend against someone else, I at least try to make it right, right? And do what I can to make it right. As soon as I’ve asked God to forgive me, the burden lifts. But if you’re still feeling, oh, I can’t believe you, you, you can’t believe you did that, you piece of crap.

You know you’re no good. You have no future, you have no hope, whatever it is, that’s all from saying and a lie. So then you repeat the truth out loud and you’re good to go. And what people need to understand, a couple things. Number one, when Satan fell, it says he took a third of the angels with them. So on this planet, we don’t know how many demons they are.

The difference between a angel of demon is a choice. One chose God and one chose. Right? Mm-hmm. But there are a lot of demons out there working with Satan to bring us down, to attack us, like you said, like God has a special plan for you. God has a special plan for your listener. And Satan’s like, yeah, he does.

So he’s trying to bring us down. That’s something you need to realize. And then the other thing is, when we do fall, when we pray and ask God to forgive us, he does. And when Jesus himself, remember when we talked about the garden, when Satan was tempting Jesus, it says in a moment’s time, he showed him the, the lands of the world.

And he said, I’ll give you all this if you, if you pick me over God. I believe when he did that, they didn’t physically travel around the world. In a split second, I believe Sam put the thought in his head. So there’s a lot of times that Satan can try to put a thought in our head. Mm-hmm. But we need to defend ourselves in a, in, uh, it’s like defense offense at the same time.

Yeah, yeah. Quote scripture out loud, and I, I hate to say this, but I, if I could kick save in the nuts or punch him in the face, I would, but the truth is, David Paswan has no power over Satan. Right? Yeah. But Satan has no power over the Holy Ghost. So Satan can’t do anything to us that we don’t allow. And he, if he tries to come up and do the worst thing in the world or give the worst situation, he might have the freedom to do so that Christ gives him temporarily.

But it’s Satan doing it. It’s God just saying, no, Dave, you’re gonna learn from this and you’re gonna be better and stronger, and we’re gonna shame saying through it. Ultimately. I’m good with that. Now again, do I ever wanna relive being sick? No. Do I wanna relive being betrayed by so many people and going through that divorce again?

No. But am I thankful that now that it’s over? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, well, David, like your podcast, I, I gather that the podcast’s name is Remarkable People. Yeah. Remarkable People Podcast. You can find out. Yeah. ’cause you have a t-shirt also with a name, so that must be your brand. So, and, and they can like, people can find it still, like on every platform there is in the world, uh, apple, Spotify, whatever.

Yeah. You Is it, is it still audio or is it like in like visual as well? No, about a year into it, we switched to video. So it’s video and audio and you can find the best place to go to get everything is my website. Okay. You go to.com and hit the tab. For Remarkable People podcast, and this is why you can go to your podcast player and you’ll get all the episodes, but if you wanna search for a title or a subject matter, it’s just easier to go to the website and put depression and then all the episodes that deal with depression pop up and you can pray about and see what connects.

And then you can still listen to in your podcast player. But that’s that, that library and that sort is just to me a lot easier. Mm-hmm. So, but yeah, apple, actually I have emails since the beginning of the show. Um, I have screenshots. We’ll have like 500 reviews and then it’s back down to 50. We’ll have 700 reviews and it’s back down to 70.

We’ll have 120 reviews and it’s back down to 30. They consciously censor our show, so I counted all joy and I figure we must be doing something right that David Pasal, a little guy in Pensacola, Florida with a show that’s not any kind of budget or you know, it’s not produced by some big network. They consciously target us.

So I’m like proud for that. So when you listen to the show, enjoy it. If I can do anything better, let me know. We got, uh, affiliates to give promo codes that give people free discounts. So like MyPillow use promo code. Remarkable. You save 30, 80% off everything you order every time, and usually they give you free shipping with our promo code too.

So when you go to the website, you get everything. If you need to reach out to me, use the contact us page. If I can help you, I will. And then we got a bunch of free blog information. But yeah, you are busy, you are busy, you are busy, busy, busy, busy. But David, uh, one hour and 50 minutes later, you like, thank you.

And, and I, I, it has been aspiring because it is something that you, you, you can turn adversity into something positive. Like you, you just live and learn. Yes, because there is some purpose there. So I, I just thank you for the bottom of my heart. Lovely that we got in, uh, we connected. And as always, when I finish my, my podcast, be curious, be interested, and be inspired.

And the next inspiring conversation will be in a week’s time. Uh, I forgot to put the information, but same time, different person. So David, just thank you very much and, and, and I hope you enjoyed it as well. Oh, I absolutely did. It’s an honor. Thank you. And if I can help you or any of your listeners, let me know and if I have helped you, let me know.

’cause it encourages us as guests, but uh, it really is life’s about God. So have the Swedish relationship you can with him and, and everything else. Even if it’s stinky. Even if it’s stinky, it’s gonna turn out great. Yeah. And again, if you look at life as a piece of sand and then you look at the universe, uh, I mean our life is 70, 80 years on average.

That piece of sand and the rest of attorney is the universe is things that we don’t even see and know about. So don’t get too hard on yourself ’cause this is a short life. This is like a very quick job interview for a blessed eternity. Hopefully. And the only difference is if we trust Christ. Yeah. So thank you very much.