The Dr. John Delony Show - My Wife Had an Affair Because She Doesn’t Find Me Attractive

Episode Date: March 5, 2025

On today’s episode, we hear about: ·      A husband trying to process his wife’s affair ·      A woman unsure how to proceed with a new relationship ·      A father wondering how to avoid his ex-wife without hurting his son Next Steps: 📞 Ask John a question! Call 844-693-3291 or send us a message. 📚 Building a Non-Anxious Life 📝 Anxiety Test  📚 Own Your Past, Change Your Future  ❓ Questions for Humans Conversation Cards  💭 John's Free Guided Meditation  🤘🏼 The Dr. John Delony Show Merch Connect With Our Sponsors: 🌱 Get 10% off your first month of BetterHelp. 🔴 Get 15% off with code DELONY at BON CHARGE. 🌿 Get up to 40% off with code DELONY at Cozy Earth.  🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 😇 Go to Hallow for a 90-day free trial. 💤 Visit Helix Sleep for special offers! 🥤 Get 20% off with code DELONY at Organifi.  💪 Get 25% off your order at Thorne.  🏋 Go to trainwell to get started!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights   🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm trying to save my marriage after finding out that my wife had a three month affair with her boss. Oh man. And I don't know what to do. My wife has been dealing with a lack of attraction towards me. She says that I am overwhelming in my desire. Why do you want to see this marriage? What in the world's going on? This is John with the Dr. John DeLoney Show, talking to you about your mental and emotional

health and your relationships and your marriage and your kids, whatever you got going on in your life. And you tried to Google it and you tried to chat GPT it and you just went what? Seen someone to sit down with me and listen to me and that's the promise on this show I'll sit with you and we'll figure out what's your next right step. All of us have chaotic lives not everybody's got somebody they can just sit down with and that's what this show is all about. You want to be on the show give me a buzz at 1-844-693-3291 or go to johndeloney.com slash ask and check

this out. This upcoming fall, my favorite event I'm a part of. We just did the Valentine's Day weekend and it was off the hook. It's my favorite event that I'm a part of. It's called the money and marriage getaway. It's a weekend retreat here in Nashville, Tennessee. It's a marriage retreat. Y'all get on the planes on the buses on the on the planes trains and automobiles get to Nashville It's a weekend with me and my buddy Rachel Cruz and a couple of special guests that we bring in because Nashville's kind of a Rad city for that and listen three days of laughter hard conversations often some tears intentional time together Lots of practical teaching. And the best part about it is if you leave the money marriage retreat without your question

answered, we cap it to just 600 couples or so. If you leave without your question answered, that's on you. The whole purpose is getting access. You can, you can listen to the show. You can read blog articles. You can read can listen to the show you can read blog articles you can read my books this event is about being able to look me in the eye and say okay but yeah but what about my situation and we're gonna get your questions answered join us November 6 through 8 2025 you can go to RamseySolutions.com events get

them quick it sells out all the time we've already sold a huge chunk of tickets for next fall get on it get. Get on it. Get on it. Alright, let's go out to Jackson, Wyoming. One of my favorite places in the world and talk to Ryan. Hey Ryan, what's up? Hey, John, how are you? Doing alright brother? How about you? I've been a lot better. Let me know what's up. I'm trying to save my marriage after finding out that my wife had a three month affair with her boss. Oh man.

And I'm sorry. I don't know what to do. I'm sorry that happened, man. You too. Have you said that out loud before? Yeah, I told a couple of close friends. How'd that go? It went well.

They're supportive. I don't think they fully understand why I want to try to save it. So I want to start the conversation this way and then we'll dig into what happened. Sure. You can only save your part of it. And she might not want to save it. And I think sometimes after somebody cheats on us, we think that we it's all our fault. And so we need to do a bunch of stuff

differently. Infidelity almost never happens in a vacuum right? I don't like to use the word fault but there's usually a world that's created between two people not always but often. So you can quote unquote try to work on your part but I don't want you to think you're a personal failure if this thing doesn't get held together because you don't want you to think you're a personal failure if this thing doesn't get held together because she didn't want to hold it together. I've been more okay with that lately. Good.

I've gotten to the point where I am. I know I'm going to be okay if this ends. What's okay to not be okay, right? Oh, yeah, that it would take time. There you go. There you go. There you go. All right. So what happened?

Tell me what happened. I'm over the past year or so, we've been married about three years now. And this last year has been really hard dealing with my wife has been dealing with a lack of attraction towards me over the last year. She says that I am overwhelming in my desire. She says that I give her too much and that she instinctively pulls back. We've been dealing with that for the last year and honestly, we got to the point where we were wondering if she was asexual or trying to figure that out.

Um, and then at work she- Asexual what? Does she just lack desire? She lacked desire. Um, and I was trying everything to, to reboot it and nothing was working. And then at work she felt attraction towards this other man and she explored it and turned into a three month affair. How long did the did the emotional affair begin?

Because here's what I'm hearing happened. For a year, she told you I'm not attracted to you. I don't feel this about you. You're overwhelming me. All you want to do is have sex with me. I just want to lay here and cuddle. I just want to do my own thing. You're bothering me.

You're smothering me. And so this whole year, you've been trying to figure out what you were doing wrong. And what she was telling you is, she's uncomfortable in her own skin and her own house and she's found it elsewhere. She's found that aliveness that starts with a spark that starts with a, oh, this one's safe because this guy's married, this guy's my boss and I don't have to go home and actually

look in the mirror and deal with me. And so it's fun to have a conversation. It's fun to be a little extra flirty. It's fun to make little funny extra flirty. It's fun to Make little funny notes, you know, because she has access to his calendar all kind of stuff that turns into Hey, you want to meet for a drink? That sounds like does that sound familiar Yeah, I mean they were friends for a while at work. Um, but, and I, I found out in stages, she, she lied to me about pretty severely.

Um, right before Christmas, she told me that she had feelings for him. And she basically told me that it was an emotional affair. And then I found notes that they'd written back and forth that were pretty explicit. And then I found more details and eventually it all came out. And I, at this point, I am confident that, that I know everything, but it was a battle to drag it out. I think that it was genuinely that they were, they were good friends. They were working together really closely. And then, um, right around August

of last year, she, I think she found out that he found her attractive, she felt something and she pursued it. That continued until early November. And then I found out about it around Christmas. And we've been really struggling. We're basically taking our marriage a week at a time right now. Okay. She's therapy, she's gone to two appointments,

she has a third appointment today. I just got my insurance back and I am about to start looking for a good therapist. Why do you want to save this marriage? Let me ask you, how can I help? So both of us love each other a lot. There's a lot of love between us. We care about each other deeply,

but we're dealing with the lack of attraction on her side. We're dealing with the fact that I want more than she does. We're dealing with the fact that it seems like we want different things, but we both love each other deeply. And I want to save this marriage. I love her more than I've loved anyone else in my life. But I don't know if those differences and things that we are dealing with can be overcome

or if it's worth fighting for. So I need someone to tell me if it's worth fighting for or if I should try to find happiness elsewhere. Well, I mean, I think happiness is inside your guts right now. You help me find it? Well, I mean, there's so many layers here. You have bought into a story

about how she suddenly found you unattractive. You've bought into a story about your marriage is full of love and you're crazy about each other. You've bought into a story that she was just good buddies with somebody who found her attractive and she just kind of goofed up. All those stories are creating this context where you're suffocating and you're, it's tough to hear. And I, again, you and I could talk for five hours on this deal, probably for five different

weeks. In many of the situations when I've had a very similar conversation with somebody, when you dig down to the root of it, you're a good man and she finds safety in you. And she has, she has absolutely no idea how to Practice or create desire and novelty and romance and Eros and so what she does is she doesn't chase joy She doesn't taste to stability. She chases excitement Okay aliveness and That is a fire that can never, it's all consuming.

That's how you end up doing something. That's like, you know, let's just go read the YouTube headings on this show. That's how you end up in crazy situations when you're always chasing unbounded. And what I'm like, and I'll come back to what that means. Unbounded excitement, aliveness. Seeking aliveness is amazing.

It's the same as spending money. Spending money can be fun. Money gives you options, it gives you resources, it gives you access to really cool, shiny things. But just unbounded spending creates huge deficits that ultimately end you, right? And so what she's, it sounds like you are floating in the ocean and she just keeps saying,

I gotta swim over here because it's all you. It's all because of you, it's all because of you. And you're such a good man. You keep going back to the mirror saying, okay, what can I do? What can I do? What can I do? And I'm afraid if this marriage ends

with what she has told you about you, about how your lack of attractiveness, about your lack of desire, your essence is too much that part of the reason you wanna hang on to this thing so bad is because what she has said about you is so personal. Yeah. And what I'll tell you is she's she has put you in a very unfair position.

Because if this thing goes south, your identity is in ash. Yeah, because your wife has said no, no, no, it's absolutely you. It's the way you look. It's the way you are. It's the way you are. It's the way you try to love me. Dude, nobody can come back. Nobody can hold that weight. That's too heavy.

You get what I'm saying? So what do I do? I think you got to call somebody today. And here's the deal. I'll I'm going to hook you up with three months with better help right now so you can at least talk to somebody today okay and I think you need to see somebody in person in your local area but I'll get you hooked up today okay and if you haven't wept let me put this way the marriage you had is officially 1000% over okay's over. There was too much lying.

Okay, good. The question is, do you and her want to sit down and make it work? Now here's what love sounds like. Love looks sounds like, love looks like, your partner gains 20 pounds or 50 pounds and I still love you deeply and I'm still Attracted to you as a person and I love you enough to say I'm worried about your health or Hey, don't wear those jeans anymore Or as my wife told me their night look like a backstreet boy because my jeans were real real tight and I tried to blame Jeans, it was not the jeans fault. It was me. It was me, right? Or love looks like do

people get zits people get bad haircuts and people get skin cancer and have to have big chunks of their nose taken like love looks like those things and attractiveness for sure matters anyone who says it doesn't is lying says it doesn't is lying. But this idea that somebody is gonna, you see, I hope you hear what what what those feelings you have are right. She has blamed your entire essence on the falling out with part of this marriage and and I want you to let that go. She made choices man. You're a good man, is that right? I'm a great man. Okay I want you to exhale in that. I want you to go to the mirror when we get off the phone in your bathroom once you close the door. I want you to put your fist in your chest. I want you to look yourself in

the eyes and say the words I love this man. Okay I want you to feel it. I want you to drop your shoulders. I want you to say, I love this man. Now, do you have crap you need to work on? Of course. Okay. What is it she finds unattractive about you? I'm a little bit on the messy side. I'm a little bit on the messy side. I I am extremely empathetic and that I think causes me to

appear Unconfident a lot. I Also have been through three job losses in the last year. So this is about one. This is about a bad job I I got laid off I She doesn't respect my confidence is she doesn't respect me that's it and I don't mean that in the like traditional macha, that's not I mean Yeah traditional macha azonamine. Yeah. We got to start there. Because you can't you can't stay married, you can't stay

connected and love someone who just thinks you're a loser. And maybe the word she's using, I'm unattracted to you. Maybe that's the essence she's talking about. Let's get to the bottom of that. about. And let's get to the bottom of that. You're a good man. Do you have things to work on? Sure. Can you get less messy? Yes, of course. Geez Louise. Does it suck getting laid off, quitting a job and then finding yourself? Yes, it does. Does that make it hard on a household? Yes, it does. Does that make it hard on a household? Yes, it does. So you only just sit down and decide if we're gonna stay together right now. You got some healing to do because you have some scars on your heart. And the woman you want to reconnect

with and rebuild with is the one who put them there. I'm sorry, my brother. I'm sorry. Have her call the show. I'd love to talk to her. I have a feeling she's got a story to tell too. We'll be right back. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. You've probably heard people talk about different kinds of flags and friendships and romantic

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Go to organifi.com slash deloni, and use code deloni for 20% off their starter kit and everything else on their site today. All right, let's go literally like five blocks over, right down the street in Franklin, Tennessee, and talk to Stephanie. Hey Stephanie, what's up? Hey, dr. John. How are you? I'm so good. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you. I mean I'm calling you but I'm doing good Excellent. What's up? All right. Well, um

First I want to say thank you to you and George for the public service that you guys did at Zany's a few weeks ago You came? I was there. No way. I was there and it was awesome. Y'all were amazing. Dude, that, you have no idea how that makes my soul feel good. Thank you so much.

That's the most nervous I have been. For those of y'all listening, me and my buddy, George Campbell, we co-host another radio show together, but we both called each other's bluff. We speak for a living, but we went to a tiny little comedy club here in Nashville and just did a comedy set. It's the most nervous I've been, maybe ever, ever. And dude, I can't believe you came. Thank you for coming, Stephanie. That means the world to me.

We're going to run it back in March, so I can't wait. Oh, good. Good to know. I'll try to be there all right fantastic all right so how can I help you you've made my whole day so now I owe you one what's up okay good deal so I'm gonna give you a little bit of a backstory I'll try to make it quick and then if you need more just let me know you got it um okay good deal so about ten years ago currently I'm not married. I am divorced but ten years ago I had I was a homeschooling military wife and I had five kids at the time and

We had moved to a new duty station. I had signed up at a homeschool co-op and very quickly made one of the dearest friends I've ever had in my entire life. And she was my ride or die, call it 2 a.m. type friend. We did everything together. Sometimes the dads would join in, but usually the stuff we did was during the day, so it was usually us and the kids. And because we were military, we quickly moved, but she and I would keep in touch. And fast forward to about four years ago, she got a cancer diagnosis.

And then shortly after that, I actually filed for divorce. It was a very abusive marriage. And so our grief journeys kind of overlapped a little bit. And early last summer, actually the day after my divorce was finalized, she lost her battle with cancer. Oh my god, lady dude. So talk about a range of emotions there. I'm telling you. Well, it just seems like there was one big emotion.

My god. Yeah. Yeah. It was a hard 24 hours. 24 hours? Well, just a shock, I guess. Okay, it was a hard 24 hours. 24 hours? Well, just in shock, I guess. Okay, there you go. I was going to say, geez.

No, it was a lot more than 24 hours. Okay, so fast forward to a few weeks ago, I got a Facebook friend request from her husband who has recently gotten on Facebook. And so I accepted it. We started talking and... Oh, yeah. Oh, no. He already know where I'm going. Brady Bunch Action. Yes. Okay. So, it started out as he just wanted someone to kind of sit with him in his grief.

And I was like, yes, I'm all in 100%. So then it kind of shifted to, I started thinking, okay, is he interested in something more than just talking like what's going on? So instead of mulling over it in my head, I thought, you know what, I'm just going to ask him and dive right in. So I did. Hey, hold on, my head, I thought, you know what? I'm just going to ask him and dive right in. So I did. Hey, hold on, Stephanie. Can I just applaud you for that?

Oh, thank you. Good God Almighty. Listen, if everybody's listening to the show for five years, or for four years, to just take that away. Like I'm an adult. I don't want to sit here and make up stories for the next seven months. I'm just going to ask you, do you like me? God, Stephanie!

Dude, the world would change with that. So high five to you. So you just asked him and of course he was like, oh yeah. Is that right? Yeah, actually. Sweet. Oh gosh. Okay.

So did your heart start beating fast? Did you yell out me too? Oh me too? My heart did start beating fast, but I was also freaking out like, oh crap, me too. Oh no. Sweet. How many kisses does he have? He has four and I have six. Oh, you're like Brady Bunch, hold my beer dude.

Exactly. We got a dozen. Okay, so here's my question. Obviously, like if we continue on, I don't want to officially do anything till we've passed the year mark of my divorce and his wife's passing, especially for the kids' sakes. Like I don't want to mention anything to them. Okay, can I just tell you one thing right now? Yeah. Take a huge deep breath. Exhale. Okay. Okay, listen to these two words and imprint them on your soul, okay? Okay. Slow down. Okay. And listen, we thought we're, you thought you were past this when you're not 17 anymore.

Mm-hmm. It all comes back when you start dating again. Just slow down. Okay. This is an amazing, awesome, cool moment. And my guess is because you're a great mom and because you're just you, you went all the way to the end and how are we going to explain our wedding and what's our wedding going to look like and how are we going to put 10 beds in this house, right? Yeah, actually.

Yeah, exactly. So this is a rad, cool, scary, exciting turn of events. Let it be that. How do we purposely walk through that? Because I am about going through it slow, actually, and I told him that last week. Awesome. And yeah, I guess I just want to know the steps that we do need to take. And we're actually meeting,

I haven't seen him in like 10 years, and we're gonna meet halfway in a few days and just be around each other. I bet you are. Yeah. That was awesome. That was a great joke. Yeah.

No, that was good. But just- Okay. Have intentional time together. And so I would just, yeah, I would love some advice from you on that. Awesome. Okay.

So I want you to spend some time by yourself defining what go slow means. Okay. Just go slow mean physical, we're gonna get together, but I'm not gonna kiss you yet, it's too soon. Or is it mean like, oh, you decide, what does go slow mean when it comes to physical intimacy? What does go slow mean when it comes to

being seen in public? What does go slow mean when it turns to like phone calls, writing, text messages, letter writing, telling the kids, considering like, I want you to define go slow because if you don't, you're going to have this idea of go slow and he's going to have a picture of go slow and your pictures are not gonna match. And so what you're gonna do is you're gonna feel this weird angst and frustration and annoyance with each other, and really, you both want the same thing,

you just didn't align your pictures up. Because he might say, yeah, I wanna go slow, I wanna make out, but I wanna go slow when it comes to like, are we gonna get married? And you might think, no, I wanna go slow, like, you can hold my hand, like, right? So to get married? And you might think, no, I want to go slow. Like you can hold my hand. Like, right? So you end up wanting the same thing sort of,

but you end up just flying by each other in the night. And it's just about being clear on that. Okay. So that's number one. The second thing, and this is me being a bubble burster. Is that okay? Yes. Just because it's familiar, doesn't mean it's right. Okay.

And this might be the safest, most familiar step into a terrifying new world of dating with six kids. Hmm. Okay. And that doesn't make it wrong. That doesn't make it bad. That doesn't mean y'all can't have a great few months of just hanging out and dating each other. Right?

And this is, you're his first safest wandering out into the world as a single dad with four kids. Right? Yeah. So just remember, familiar is gonna feel safe, but that doesn't mean it's right long-term, because in addition to familiar, you're gonna want want novelty and you're going to want new, you're going to want adventure.

And if you try to bridge houses, you're going to get plenty of that stuff, right? But don't mistake comfort for, or as the old Cayman's call line says, don't mistake happiness for blessings. Just because it's happy and it all feels good doesn't mean like, dude, we're not going to get married. All right. Here is, um, let me try to say it. I'm trying to think of the right way to say this in a non-clinical nerd way. Um, Oh man. How old are your kids? They range from seven to 18.

Oh geez, Louise on a stick. Yeah. Okay. So your kids are going to have all six different thoughts about this. That's not true. They're gonna have a thousand different thoughts about this. Okay. And anything for, especially a teenager, if you've got kids from 12 to 18, 12 to 25, really. Yeah. It's very, it's age appropriate, it's developmentally appropriate that they can't hold

ideological discomfort without giving it to somebody else to hold their kids. Okay, what does that mean? That means an 18 year old is going to see you potentially six months from now holding hands with another person, maybe somebody that they've met peripherally, and they're going to feel all kind of weird about it and they're going to have to blame you for that discomfort because they can't hold the tension of, oh my dad is really gone or mom and dad the fantasy they're really really not getting back together or in this other guys like oh mom so just be prepared for if you have an angry 14 year old that doesn't mean that y'all are doing anything wrong that means they're 14 and there's a ton of feelings and they can't hold them. It goes back to that word sturdy

that I talked about all the time that I got from Becky Kennedy. Like is we're gonna make our decisions and we're gonna move forward. So what does that mean? There's not a stress-free way of introducing all of this to your kids if it ends up getting there. It's just gonna be uncomfortable and weird

and discombobulated and you two are gonna have to continue to work on your relationship and work on it and work on it and work on it and work on it and you're gonna have 10 different kids who are blending. It's just gonna be chaos and just expect it. So I guess that'd be the last thing is if y'all pursue this right now, y'all feel like teenagers again

and that's a fun, exciting feeling, especially after all the hurt you all both endured. So I'm gonna tell you something crazy, enjoy it. Enjoy the pitter patter, enjoy seeing his text pop up and you're getting excited like you're 15 again. Enjoy all of that stuff. It's exciting, it feels alive again, right? And you felt dead in your own skin for a while, fair?

Very fair. Okay, let that aliveness just course through you. Make good grownup choices, right? But enjoy it. And. Okay. Understand y'all are signing up for the craziest roller coaster at the park. Yeah. All right.

And so just know that going into it. And last little thing, keep some space for being sad in ways that you didn't imagine. And there are little things that will hit you. Like if you hold hands with him this weekend, And there are little things that will hit you. If you hold hands with him this weekend, you'll look down and really quick in a blink, it won't be your husband's hand, your ex-husband's.

He'll look down and it will have different, your fingers will look different than his ex-wife's fingers. It's little bitty things. They're both exciting and also catch you off guard. And it just has a little, it's like a grief dart that you don't expect. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Cool.

All right. So I threw a ton at you. I'm just rattling stuff off here. How's it hitting you? Exciting? Cool? Did I just douse cold water on you? Like tell me what you're feeling.

No, not at all because the last week or so I've actually been like, oh no, I don't know if this is right, but yet you know, is it my alarms and bells going off because I'm used to so much pain and going off because I'm used to so much pain. And, you know, so I've been kind of going back and forth with that. And he's actually been very gracious and he's backed off a little bit. But we still think it's fair to move, not move forward, but just continue talking and just see and just have fun and just see what it's what it's like because this is brand new and it is scary in a lot of ways. But you know, I just I don't know what's going

to happen. And so I'm trying to tell myself to just relax. I'm not committing to anything. Just by seeing him, it may work out and it may not. And that's okay. So everything you said is exactly what I needed to hear. So thank you. Well, if you just go have a great time with your best friend's husband, which sounded awesome. I hope they clip just that and put that in the teaser. It's gonna make

this call you really well on YouTube. If y'all choose to just go have a blast, that's a weekend well spent. If y'all go laugh, tell old stories, he's like I knew your husband sucked and you're like this is super weird that I'm holding hands with my best friend who passed away. Like just put all the weird on the table. There's no reason to hide it. And you are one,

God, you're so far ahead of the curve Stephanie. You're like a hero. There's gonna be the weird part cause you know him and there's gonna be the weird part that you know, I don't know how to say this without just being crass that he partied with your best friend right yeah you know all that right and there's gonna be those safety alarm bells in your body that says hey if I let another military man get close to me he's gonna hurt me like the other guy did well thankfully he's not military

oh it's not okay no that is a plus right there. Oh, sweet. Okay. All right. So we're getting out, but expect those alarm bells to go off and vice versa. He's going to have that GPS pin in his soul that says she make it sick and pass away. Right? So one of my closest, closest buddies and mentors, his wife lost her first husband with just an out of the blue health experience. And I just remember him when they

were newlyweds, she was extra attentive as she should be, right? And so just expect that weirdness and that awkwardness. And I think what I love about you Stephanie is you're so far ahead of the curve You just put on table. Hey, are you like me? Is that why you're Facebooking me you old man with a bunch of kids like and so you just putting it on the table I feel weird or my ex-husband used to do that right before he would scream and yell and punch a hole through the sheetrock And I'm just putting on the table. So maybe that's part of the deal, y'all agree early on. We're gonna have as much fun as we can. We're gonna align our pictures and words

about what going slow looks like, what physical intimacy looks like, what being weird looks like, and we're gonna put all the awkward on the table all the time. We're just gonna make a commitment to that. And then, man, listen, if y'all get married in Franklin, Tennessee, I will go to that wedding. I'll go to that one. So thank you so much for the call, Stephanie. You call anytime and swing on

down the road one day and we got free coffee and cookies out here in the lobby. And I'd love to just come out there and give you a high five. Blessings to you on this new adventure. I wish you guys the absolute best and make good choices Stephanie. That was awesome. We'll be right back. I want to tell you about Cozy Earth, makers of incredible sheets, bedding, and bath linens. It's almost time. The sun will come out tomorrow. It's so soon, spring is almost here. And Cozy Earth has a spring into comfort sale going on right now.

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Go check it out. All right. Let's go out to San Diego, California and talk to Kevin. Hey Kevin, what's up man? Hi, how are you? I'm doing alright brother. What's going on? Yeah, so I have this dilemma that I have. So my ex-wife whom I've been estranged for for about four years, she has reached out

through her cousins that she has stage four cancer and she would like to reconnect with me and my son. Does she have visitation with you? Is the son a kid you all share together? Yeah, I have, we have one son. I have primary custody. In fact, she has, she does have supervision, supervised visitation rights, but she hasn't used that in quite

a while. Okay. And in fact, she and I live in on the opposite sides of the country. Okay. And, and all of a sudden I hear from one of her cousins who, like I still talk to this day, you know, that she's really sick and she would like to reconnect. And then to be honest, So you don't believe her do you? You don't believe him? Well I mean she said she did and she said and did a lot of things like which made me divorce her. Hold on forget all that for a second. Write this

sec, because here's the deal. If your ex, let me say it this way, if your son's mom is gonna be dead in three months from state, what kind of cancer is it? Are they telling you? Pancreatic. Yeah, stage four pancreatic cancer. She's got less than six months. If she truly has stage four pancreatic cancer and she will not be with us anymore

after six months from now, any, any, man, I'm gonna get myself in trouble here. Almost any self-respecting dad would get in a car and drive across the country and let his young son see mom before she dies. The other side of that is I don't think you believe her. Yeah, I don't. Okay. Yeah, I don't. So just just, I don't. So just own that.

She deceptive? Yeah. Yes. Okay. Does she struggle with substance abuse? Not substance, but she has done a lot of things recently. Okay. So what's your question for me? So my son, he's five.

Um, he was about one, he was like physically, physically, uh, speaking, like he was only one and a half when he last saw her. Okay. The thing is, like after that, like we split off, like she didn't even, she didn't even, um, do the visitations anymore. She moved to another state and we just didn't get in touch ever since. Okay. So what is your son?

Is your son asking to see her again? No, like my son doesn't even remember her. Okay. Like he kind of says like, I mean, there are situations like, I mean, where's my mom? And I'm like, and I tell her, well, she's away or yeah. I mean, that's the root. I mean, I can't tell him right now she's dead,

because that's not true. No, but what you can't tell her is your mom's very, very sick and she decided to step away or she needed to step away but I want to see her she's very very sick and and and can't be seen right now yeah that's what we tell my goals yeah because by the way any mom who doesn't want to see her five-year-old son is is struggling with something, right? Yeah, the thing is she wasn't, she didn't have any drug or substance,

like the last time I met her. The thing is like we had a very acrimonious split where basically, like, and this is back, this is in California where I got everything. Okay, but listen, this is five years ago. I don't I mean, four years ago, I mean, you had a split, you split. I guess let me let me say this way. I don't know what I still don't really fully understand what you're asking.

But let me just say this. If you find out, and by the way, I would not take a comment from a cousin. Right? I would if she wants to reach out, and we have ways of confirming it or her attorney or your attorney wants to Be notified that she's about to pass away and wants to change the agreement so y'all can go see each other Yeah, then Don't be the dad that doesn't let his young son have a photo with his dying mother Okay, and you're gonna have to put back the crap she did to you four years ago get over yourself

If this is another move in a long line of deceptive things and dishonest things and shady things Then you need to go do your due diligence and find out if this is actually real if this is true, etc And I don't know a way to do that without being awkward or asking hard questions then you need to go do your due diligence and find out if this is actually real, if this is true, et cetera. And I don't know a way to do that without being awkward or asking hard questions. Like you mean contact her directly or like, or I don't know because she has, she has, like you said, hit stuff shades, shady stuff and lied. Sure. Like she has a history of that so but for me yeah

go ahead for you what for me like I don't know how to like I don't know how to like validate or verify you know she hasn't even contacted you dude yeah so let me put it this way if I was if I got a six month diagnosis, you're gonna be dead in six months John. And me and my wife didn't live together, the last thing I would do on the planet Earth would be to find a way that I see my kids. Period. I wouldn't call a cousin who called a somebody. Yeah. Do you know what I'm saying? Yeah.

Now maybe she's not well, she doesn't feel welcome, it feels awkward. Maybe you tell the cousins you have her reach out to me. If she wants to see her son, she needs to reach out to me. This is this we're talking adult stuff now. Okay. Okay. Okay. And if she can't see, you know, then you can manage that here. But I'm telling you, you don't want to be on the other side of this thing where I thought she was lying and then she passes away. And your son, you have to

have that conversation with him. Yeah. She let me know she was dying, wanted to see you, but nah, I didn't do it. Is there a way that I can, I don't know, like hire a PI to kind of like verify? I wouldn't, but you can. You can do whatever you want, man. Yeah, because like... You can ask to see her medical records. You can ask to go to a doctor's visit with her. You can ask to go to a doctor's visit with her. Or get her. I haven't seen her in years. And there's a reason why I left her and I ghosted her and I graced, I graced on her, whatever that's called.

I don't know any of those new-fangled Jin-jin y words, whatever you're saying. Well, like what did she do that was so bad? She cheated on me with her eyes Okay, and and that's the reason to keep a little boy from her mom She well after that like she made a, like she became very vicious. She became very toxic. She tried to do everything in her power

to try to get primary custody, you know. Basically sue me for abuse, both emotional, physical, emotional and physical. Was it all lies? Yeah, yeah. All right, so she's proven unsafe and she's proven to be a person

who will go to the ends of the earth to get what she wants, even if it means lying and cheating and ruin somebody else's life. Yeah. Okay, I have no, if somebody cheats on you, yes, we got to deal with that relationally. But that's still the mother of your kid. If somebody tries to go to the ends of the earth

to get primary custody, fine. Unless they use the kid as a bargaining chip. And then that's when I rarely get mad, but I get mad when couples do that. But I don't get mad that couples are about to get divorced and they both are terrified to not see their kid very much. I get that totally Now we're getting into different layers where in order to see her kid more she Looks at you and makes up lies about you

They're going to get you in jail get you fired get you all those kind of things and make it to where you can't put Food on your table. Yeah, then we got a problem the relationship is over She ended my son and his mom, correct? It a problem. The relationship is over. She ended- Between my son and his mom? Correct. It's over. Okay. Okay.

Like a caretaker relationship, a friend relationship, a loving, interconnected, intimate relationship, it's over. She ended it. Yeah. Okay. She's made choices repeatedly over the years to not have a relationship with her son, period. End of story. This isn't about her at this moment.

This is about when your son's 19 and he's trying to figure out who he is. Half of him will be you, a good man who worked from home, probably made less money than he was worth because he was working from home, got him will be you, a good man who worked from home, probably made less money than he was worth because he was working from home, got him through special needs, like got him the resources that he needed, was really an attentive, caring father.

Half of him will be that good man. And he'll always know that half of him was this other person. And that's the world he's gonna have to inhabit. When I'm thinking ahead to that 14 year old, to that 17 year old, to that 25 year old, I'd rather him have a picture with him smiling next to this woman who he does not know who's wearing a bandana because her hair has fallen out from her chemo treatments as she's trying to hang on the last few months of her life.

I'd rather that than him look at you from across the table and say, I could have seen her. And you kept me from it because you were too dramatic and saying she did shady things. Because you couldn't get over her cheating on you five years ago. Do you know what I'm saying?

Yes. Both of these paths are messy Both of these paths are gnarly. That's what happened when y'all made a kid That's what happened when she cheated on you the whole thing blew up, right? So there's not there's not a stress-free path forward Every time somebody gets divorced and there's a kid involved. I always tell them you're playing a 20-year game now you're paying a 15-year game now. And so yes I would it is me personal now I don't know her I don't know her backstory I don't know any of the stuff that she's done to you personally you do so you take this with a grain of salt. If somebody had accused

me of physical abuse and emotional abuse and tried to call the police and I had to go do it I probably would not enter their orbit again Because I would be terrified for not being able to provide for my kid in case they made some more crazy stories up but If four and a half or five years ago somebody did something stupid and they cheated on me with their ex and then yada yada and partridge in A pear tree and it got nasty for a bit. But here are calls and says I'm dying I'm gonna be dead soon can I see my son I would make that happen and it would be awkward and it would be awful it is not a rekindling it is not a reintroduction into our lives it's not renewing relationships, she burnt it, it's over.

But it would be a gift to this young boy as he becomes an adolescent and becomes an adult and tries to figure out who am I. Now if this mom is unsafe, then absolutely not. If this mom is unhinged and untethered and she's willing to go to the ends of the earth to burn you alive, then no, I would not put myself in harm's way that way. So you're going to have to make your decision there.

You're a good man. You're a good dad. And that little one's lucky to have you. We'll be right back. Let's talk about Hallow, the number one prayer and meditation app in the world. It's officially Lent. And Lent is the 40 days leading up to Good Friday and Easter. And Lent is when Christians all over the world

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guided prayers, meditations and more. And when you sign up at hallow.com slash Deloney right now, you'll get three free months. So you're covered all through Lent and beyond. Go check them out at Hallow.com slash Deloney for three free months. That's Hallow, H-A-L-L-O-W, dot com slash Deloney. All right, we are back and it's time for a money and marriage question. This is a live question that somebody asked at the money marriage conference and I thought it was a good question and wanted to bring it to everybody.

So here's the question. My husband and I are millionaires. This is a common question I get. My husband and I are millionaires. Aw. This is a common question I get, just kidding. I don't get this question almost ever, but I do think it's important. So hang with us. My husband and I are millionaires. We can't seem to agree on a timeline

of moving to a different city or a different state. He's more methodical and I am more spontaneous. How do we move forward? So yes, very, very, very few of you listening to this are millionaires, right? Very, very few of you are in this place where we can kind of do whatever we want, whenever we want and we're fighting on how to do that, slow or fast, right?

But almost everybody listening here has, they want to get a new car. They want to move schools. They want, get a new car they want to move schools they want one wants her kid to go to a state school and wants her kid to go to a fancy private school trying to figure out do we just make the two boys share a room or we go get another whole other house or do we do we should we take out a HELOC and build a garage apartment right and one wants one wants to move fast, one wants to move slow, whatever. By the way, don't take out HELOCs.

It's so stupid to leverage your home for a credit card. Anyway, that's another conversation, different show. He's more methodical and I'm more spontaneous. Here's what I always want to get when people say, I am this way and you're that way you're identifying with a way of solving problems That your body feels keeps you safe Some people feel that they can best solve problems when they go very very slow and they think it through and Sometimes that thinking it through and going slow becomes a way to procrastinate to not make the final decision others becomes a way to procrastinate, to not make the final decision. Others, this is

more like me, are like hyper spontaneous and it's their way of not having to think things through. We're just gonna go, we're gonna figure it out when we get there and both of those are ways that we keep ourselves safe. And so I want to get to the underlying question beneath the, I just need some more time. I need some more data or let's just go. Let's just pack up and move. What's beneath that? I'm bored here.

I need some adventure in my life and I want you to come with me. Yes, I know we have a whole bunch of money, but I worked really hard and I kind of loved this house and I love our little neighborhood church. And I love being able to ride my bike to the grocery store even though I'm 62. I don't know that I want to move and I know that we had dreams of moving to the mountains or moving to the beach, but I kind of like our just Midwest town.

What if now that we're millionaires, what if now that we paid off our last credit card? What if now that our marriage is in good footing? We decided to get real, real fancy vacations, do fancy vacations a couple of times a year. What would life look like if we didn't have to move? Those are deeper than, we can't agree on a timeline. I wanna get to those questions because then we get into the grief. I don't want to move and I told you I did but I don't.

Oh my gosh, I hate this town. I wanted to move. I've always wanted to move. I want some adventure. I want some so then you can start solving the actual problem. All right, if we're not going to move, what would not moving look like and what would adventure look like? Or, okay, we are going to move but I I gotta stay connected to some of my close friends here. Making friends in your 50s or 40s or 60s is the worst thing on the planet. And I wanna stay connected here, so I'm gonna put some money in our account.

So here's for instance, when we moved to Tennessee, my wife and I set up a fund for plane tickets to go visit family, because both of us are pretty close to our family. We set up plane tickets, like just a small fund, it's not huge or anything, but a small fund that if somebody's parent passed away, I'm gonna go to those funerals.

Some of my closest friends in Texas, I'm gonna go to those funerals. I'm gonna have an account for that. So we just built in travel as a part of, we wanna stay connected to those folks, but we both think it's right to move. And so I wanna get to the beneath the timeline question and get to the,

how's your body trying to keep you safe during this period of transition in our lives? And here's the final question that I want every couple to ask all the time. How do we want the house to feel when we walk in every day? Don't feel like I don't know what town I'm in. I don't know anybody here. I'm nervous. Don't feel like I know everybody here

and I'm just comfortable. How do you want this house to feel like? And then you can build a timeline, reverse engineering from that. How do I want this thing to feel? Let's go make that happen. Thanks for the question. There's not a name on here.

Oh yeah, that was part of an anonymous question drop in. So there you go. I hope that helps. Hope that helps. Always get to the question behind the question. If you're procrastinating, what is not doing the thing? How's that keeping you safe? Love you guys.

Bye.