Money, Ice Cream & Developing Faith in the Universe

Nov 10

Do you have unwavering faith that you will get everything you’ve ever wanted for your life? If you’re like me, you’re not quite convinced enough to preach it from the mountaintops yet, but you’re somewhere on the path. In today’s episode, I’m sharing a funny little story about ice cream and how it started me on my journey towards developing faith that everything I want for my life IS possible, even money.

I talk about:
- My non-existent background in faith
- How I was taught that the only person you can depend on is yourself
- Why working REALLY hard isn’t the only way to earn money
- Stories that prove that the universe has my back and why I “should” have unwavering faith
- A free event that might help you

You can listen to the podcast on Apple, Spotify or Anchor OR read the full transcript post below.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

PODCAST EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Do you have unwavering faith that you will get everything you've ever wanted for your life? If you're like me, you're not quite convinced enough to preach it from the mountaintops just yet, but you're somewhere on the path. In today's episode, I'm sharing a funny little story about ice cream and how it started me on my journey towards developing faith that everything that I want for my life is possible. Hi. Welcome to Lessons on Happiness.

I'm your host Val Malnar, and I'm here to talk to you about finding happiness through healing, personal growth, and mindset practice. My hope is that by sharing my story and the methods I've used to become a happier person, I can help you on your journey to do the same. Thanks so much for tuning in and I hope you enjoy the show.

MY NON-EXISTENT BACKGROUND IN FAITH
Hello beautiful people! Today's episode is going to be less about teaching you about faith and more about sharing stories. But I promise there'll be a couple of lessons in there that you can take away with you, and if not, well, at least you'll have a good laugh. So let me set a foundation. I never grew up in faith. As a kid, we only ever went to church for weddings, funerals, and I think I went to Sunday school a couple of times, but that was more about having an activity to do than learning about God. And I actually didn't even know what my religion was until my 20s and I still don't even know what it means. So now you have an idea about how much faith I had growing up.

THE ONLY PERSON YOU CAN DEPEND ON IS YOURSELF
In addition to that, it was drilled into me to never depend on anyone for anything. I was taught that it was hard to make money and that if you ever wanted anything in your life, then you'd need to learn how to be independent and work really, really hard to get it.

WORKING HARD
So as a result of that, pretty much my entire life I've been working really hard. In fact, if you ever ask any of my friends to describe me, they say she's honest, fun, and has a really strong work ethic. So let's rewind a little bit. I started working when I was eleven years old. I had a paper route and I cleaned and organized the shelves of a convenience store that was located close to the apartment building that I lived in. Then at 13, I started working at a retirement home as a server dishwasher and I also helped with food prep. By 17, I was working in restaurants, hosting and serving tables, and did that all the way while I went to school for pre-health science, holistic, nutrition, and then marketing. When I was 18, I moved to London, Ontario to go to college and I paid for almost all of my tuition and living expenses by myself. I also bought my first house on my own and had to keep a full and part-time job in order to pay the mortgage, but I did it independently, and that's all that mattered, okay? So hopefully I've demonstrated by now that the thing that I had the most faith in was that if I wanted anything in life, I was going to have to make it happen for myself.

GETTING COACHED
And I believed that pretty much my entire life until recently, in the last two or three years, I've been working really hard to get to know myself better. Particularly in the last six months or so. I enrolled in a coaching program in June of 2022, and it's helped me learn so much about myself. Now I'm so much more aware of how I operate, what stories I've been telling myself, and how changing my perspective can change my results in life. Faith is one area that I've been working hard to develop. I mean, I have faith in myself for a lot of things. I think we've determined that, but not all the things. And one of the things that I'm working on growing my faith in is faith that I will be independently wealthy and financially free. Okay, so now I'm going to tell you a funny little story.

A FUNNY STORY ABOUT ICE CREAM
When I was in my early 20s, I went to school for holistic nutrition, and we had a teacher there who was very much into the law of attraction. And at that time, I didn't really know anything about the law of attraction. I don't think it was quite mainstream yet. And so we thought that she was a bit of a crackerjack. So anyway, this one night I was sitting around watching 9210 with my housemates. There was four of us living there and three of us weren't in that particular program. And it was like in April. Most of the snow had melted, but there was still a few snow banks outside, and it was just starting to get kind of warmer through the days. Anyways, we're watching 90210, and it was a commercial break. And I was like, you know, I could really go for some ice cream right now. And one of my roommates was like, well, why don't you call it out to the universe? Sort of making fun of what our teacher would do. And I was like, oh, yeah, I should do that. Now, this is only a funny story because I don't even really like ice cream. It's okay, but I never crave it, except for this particular day. Well, maybe I wouldn't say never, but I hardly ever crave it. It's not my treat of choice. But anyway, so I was like, oh, yeah, I should do that. So I went out into the front of our townhouse complex and I stood on the lawn and I yelled out from the top of my lungs, as I was pretty bold back then, I want some ice cream! I want some ice cream! As if I'm proclaiming it to the universe. And no joke, all of a sudden, this little dickie-dee starts driving up the road, like, ringing a bell, and I'm like, oh, my God, you guys, there is a dickie-dee coming up the street right now. And they're like, shut up. because, like I said, it was April, and there were still snowbanks on the ground. And so my friends were like, come on!

I'm like, come see. So we all come to the door. They all come to the door, and they look outside, and we're laughing. We're just like, oh, my gosh, that is so funny. Like, what are the chances? And so I go to my friend, the one who suggested I do that, and I say, yeah, but I didn't want a dickie-dee. I wanted, like, Sundae. And so she goes, well, you didn't ask for a Sundae. And I was like, oh, my gosh, that's so funny. So I went out onto the lawn again, and I yelled, I want an ice cream sundae! I want an ice cream sundae! No word of lie, all of a sudden, this, like, 50s style ice cream truck pulls up with, like, a megaphone, and there's music coming out of it, and it pulls into our townhouse complex, and I'm dying. I'm like, oh, my God! you guys! and there is an ice cream truck outside right now. And they're like, shut up! I'm like, no, totally there is. Come. So we went outside, and we saw the truck, and we all went down, and we got our ice cream sundaes. And there was everything there. There were all different flavors, all different sauces, whipped cream, there was nuts, candy, whatever you wanted, they had it. So we made ourselves sundaes, and then we came back into the townhouse, and we watched the rest of the show.

And then I was like, you guys, I want a million dollars. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to be rich. So I went outside one more time, and I stood on the lawn, and I said, I want a million dollars. I want a million dollars. And nothing showed up. So the next day, I went to school, and I asked my teacher if I could share a story with the class because we didn't have a very big class. I think it was, like, maybe 25 of us or something, and we all got to know each other pretty well, so I felt comfortable to share. She was like, yeah, yeah, sure. So I was like, okay, I'll be honest. I wasn't so sure about your law of attraction theory, but last night, this is what happened. And so I shared the entire story, and the class was laughing, and anyways, it was fun. And then I said, but then I asked for a million dollars, and it didn't show up, so, like, what's with that? And she said, do you mind me saying in front of everyone? And I said, no, of course. And she goes, it’s because you think you don't deserve it. And I was like, oh, which is so true because I was always taught you have to work hard to make money. So of course, I didn't believe I just deserved to have a million dollars show up on my doorstep. And then she proceeded to say, if you truly believed that you were worthy of a million dollars without having to work for it, I would not be surprised if it showed up on your doorstep. So I was like, oh. So since then, I've been trying to use a lot of attraction in my life, and I'll say I wasn't very good at it at first, but I have used it to attract a few things in my life, and I have been successful with some of those things. But let's go back to the part where I don't think I deserve the money just showing up on my doorstep and that I have to really work hard if I want a million dollars.

FEELING WORTHY & DESERVING OF MONEY
It took me until this year to realize that I'm worthy of receiving any amount of money that I want. And how I came upon this was, well, a lot of things. But I think what really made me see it was it just dawned on me one day. I was like, you know what? When a baby is born into the world, they are showered with love, gifts, money. And that baby has done nothing. Yet all they have done is arrived into the world. They can't even smile. Yet they're family and friends. Shower them with love, shower them with gifts, shower them with money, and they have done nothing to contribute to society. So if I ask you, is the baby worthy of that money, the gifts and the love, you would say yes, right? So if the baby is worthy of that and they haven't done anything yet, then why the hell would we not be worthy of love, money and gifts? We have been a good friend to someone. We have done good work for someone. We have been a good daughter or son. We've been a good coworker. We have contributed to society in some way. So if the baby is worthy, we are worthy. That was a game changer for me. So now, even though I have not mastered this and I haven't found my way to a million dollars yet, I do believe I'm worthy of it. And I hope hearing that if you don't believe you are, that you do now.

HAVING FAITH IN THE UNIVERSE
Okay. So now I believe I'm worthy. But how do I have faith that I will get the money that I desire if I've never made a lot of money before? I gather evidence. I gather evidence of when money has showed up when I needed it, and evidence of times when I really wanted something and I got it, or things turned out even better than what I thought they would. I do this for a couple of reasons. One, to build my belief that it's possible, and two, to get in the vibration of gratitude, because gratitude carries a high vibration and so does money. And like attracts like. So I'm more likely to attract money in my life if I stay in a higher vibration. So now I'm going to share a little bit of that evidence that proves faith exists in my life.

Moving to a New Neighbourhood
When I was 13, my parents decided to move to a new area, which meant I was going to be going to a new school. And I remember I was pissed. It was the first time in my life that I felt like I actually had some really good friends at school. I was bullied most of my school childhood, and now they wanted to move me away from those friends. I was heartbroken. I worried that no one would like me and that I'd have no friends again because it took me so long to get the friends that I did have. But moving away actually ended up being a really good thing, because the neighborhood that we lived in was really dodgy, and I was hanging around with some kids that were getting into trouble and smoking a lot of pot and stealing, and so who knows what would have happened to me if we hung around there much longer? So even though I hated it in the moment, it actually ended up being better for me. And I made friendships at the new school that I still have to this day.

College Tuition
Then years later, when I was in college, things got really tight for me. And as I mentioned, I was paying for everything myself. But I really needed some help, and my mom ended up lending me about $3,000. And throughout college, I ended up going even further into debt because things always end up costing more than you think they're going to. And by the time it came time for me to pay her back, she was in a better financial position and said, don't worry about it, you don't have to pay me back. So that worked out for me, too.

Buying My First House
Then when I bought my first house, which was in my late twenties, my boyfriend was going to move in with me. And he was very financially irresponsible, which made me super nervous. And at the time I was frustrated because we were thinking we would buy this house together, combining our income. But because he was financially irresponsible, they wouldn't approve us for more than what I was able to afford on my own. So I bought the house in my name, and that ended up working out great, because we broke up just a few months later, because I couldn't handle his spending habits, and because the bank had only approved me for what I could afford, I was able to maintain the house on my own.

A Bunch of Frogs and then a Prince
So there again, the universe looked after me. Until I got married, throughout my life, I attracted so many men. That did not make me a priority. They cheated on me. They lied to me. They took advantage of me. But then Tom came along. So this is kind of a funny story. I went on a trip to Europe when I was 34, and so I quit my job to go to Europe. I had been working at the same place for five years, and I loved my job, but my manager and I just did not get along. I actually remember the person who worked a job before me say, do not work at this place for five years. It will destroy your self-esteem. And I was one week away from my five year anniversary, and I had had it so I had always had it on my heart that I wanted to go to Europe. And so I quit my job, I rented out my house, and I went to Europe for three months. And it was the most wonderful thing I've ever done for myself. I can talk about that on another podcast. But anyway, when I came back, I was like, okay, I have a house. I've seen Europe. I'm ready to settle down.

And so up until that point, I had always been talking about what I didn't want in a man. So I would complain. I don't want a guy who doesn't make me a priority. I don't want a guy who cheats on me. I don't want a guy who's terrible with money. I don't want a guy who lies to me and blah, blah, blah. But this time, I was like, let me focus on what I do want. So I kind of owe a paper little man, like the kind you would do in kindergarten. And inside the man, I wrote all the characteristics that I wanted in a partner. And like, two months later, I met my husband. Now, I didn't meet him two months later. I actually knew him from years and years and years ago, but I reconnected with him, and within a couple of weeks, we were dating, and within a few months, we were living together. And within a few more months, we were engaged, and within a few more months, we were married. So again, here's a situation where what I wanted turned out even better than what I thought. And he meant almost all of the things that I wrote down in my paper cut out.

A Trip to Europe & Snow Tires
In addition to that, when I was in Europe, I had racked up quite a bit of debt, and I didn't care in the moment. Well, I did care, but I didn't want to sacrifice my experience. And I knew that I was driven, and that when I got home, I would work my ass off to pay it off. But then when I came back, I was only coming back to a part-time job because I had quit my full-time job. And it was around Christmas time, so Christmas was super busy because I was serving tables. But then if you worked in the service industry, you know that January and February are deadsville, and it was deadsville.

So I didn't make any money during those months. And I started to get a little panicky about where I was going to come up with funds to pay for everything. And I really needed snow tires. And so my husband he wasn't my husband at the time, was like, I'm just going to buy you some snow tires. And I was like, no, no, you don't have to buy me snow tires. I'll just use my all seasons. And he's like, no, it's important that you have safe tires on your vehicle. I would like to buy them for you. I have the money, and it would make me feel good to buy them for you, so I'm going to buy them for you. And I was like, oh, thank you. I'll pay you back. He's like, you don't need to pay me back. I would like to buy them for you. So again, I've been looked after, so I'm not necessarily earning the money, but I'm still getting taken care of financially. And incidentally, when we were preparing to buy a house and get married, he discovered that I had this debt from my trip. And so I can't remember exactly how we looked after it. Maybe we rolled it into the mortgage when we were buying a place or whatever, but again, I was looked after.

Fertility Treatments
Another time I can think of is with my first child. We got pregnant on the very first try, so I was cocky enough to believe that I could actually plan when my next child's birthday was going to be. But it wasn't that easy. We ended up having to go for fertility treatments, and I did three IUIs before we decided that we were likely going to have to do in vitro. So we went for the orientation, and because Christmas holidays were coming up and where my cycle was going to be, it meant that the next time I was ovulating was going to be over the Christmas break. And so I was going to miss that month for trying. And I was really upset about it because I was 38 at the time and getting very close to my 39th birthday. And I was just really worried that we were running out of time. But then, lo and behold, I got pregnant on my own over the break, and so we didn't even have to do the in vitro, which we were so grateful for because we did not have the money. But we really wanted to have a second child, so we were going to go into debt for it.

A Broken Septic
And here's another story. So my husband and his brother co-own a cottage, which I get the pleasure of using, but it was in need of a new septic system and it was on stilts, and it was starting to sort of lean. And so it wasn't just like, oh, we need a new septic system. It was like, well, do we want to invest in a septic system which was going to be $30,000 when the cottage might collapse? Or do we want to just continue to deal with a broken septic system? No, thank you. Or do we want to sell it? Or what do we want to do? We didn't want to sell it. We didn't want to pay the money for the septic system without rebuilding the cottage, but we didn't have the money to rebuild the cottage. So we were kind of like, oh, my gosh, we might have to sell it even though we really don't want to. And so my husband's parents ended up gifting him and his brother a large sum of money to help us rebuild the cottage. And so again, that ended up even better than what we'd hoped.

A Thriving Business During Hard Times
Okay, I have two more examples. And then I'll shut it down during the pandemic when the kids were home, and I was stressing about home schooling and how we were going to have enough money to pay for everything. And I was trying to run a business on my own while having these kids here. So I have a virtual interior design business. Well, all of a sudden, everyone was stuck at home between their four ugly walls, and they started calling. So all of a sudden, virtual interior design business started to thrive, and I ended up having my best year in sales. So I was super blessed that that happened.

Depression During the Pandemic
But at the same time, it was an extremely hard time in my life because, as I said, the kids were home. I'm busier than ever. I actually hired two co-op students, and then I also had another new girl that started. So I'm training three people at the busiest time of my life with my kids home. I was, like, so stressed out. And then on top of that, our family chose not to be vaccinated. So I was feeling super isolated because we could not go anywhere. And I mean, I know at first nobody could go anywhere, but later when things started opening up a little bit, we couldn't go anywhere because we chose not to be vaccinated. And so I started getting really depressed and really lonely and feeling isolated and feeling guilty because my kids weren't allowed to participate in sports and things like that. And so I actually started having suicidal thoughts, and I told my husband about it and, you know, if not for having children, like, I don't know what I would have done. But since I did have children, I knew that wasn't a path I wanted to go down. And that's when a friend reached out to me and told me about this program, this program that I told you at the beginning of this podcast that I've been taking for the last five months. And this program has changed my life and it has motivated me to help change the lives of others.

And so that's why I share these stories. I'm hoping that something I say or something I share helps someone in some way, ideally many people in many ways. But I just know that my job is to help people in a more meaningful way than decorating their homes. So these are just a few examples that really stood out to me of ways the universe has shown up for me in my life. And after sharing them all with you now, it makes me question why the hell don't I have unwavering faith yet? I'm working on it though. I'm so excited for the day that I get to record a podcast to tell all of you that I have reached my financial goals because I had the faith that it would happen. I hope that these stories help you identify times in your life when money and the universe has shown up for you so that you can grow your faith as well.

FREE ONLINE EVENT | LEGACY
I want to end this episode by giving a shout-out to my coach, Kathleen Cameron. She has hands down been the most influential person in helping me change my life, and if you want to learn more about what she teaches and how she's helped me, then I invite you to come to a free online event that she's hosting called Legacy.

It runs from November 17 to 19th. I'll leave more information about the event in the show notes, but feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions. Three years ago, Kathleen was a nurse in Guelph, Ontario, and now she's an 8-figure Life and Manifestation Coach and Best-selling Author that has helped over 100,000 people attract more love, money and success into their lives. And she is such a wonderful person. If you want to make positive changes in your life, then I highly recommend you attend the event. And don't worry if the times don't work for you. As long as you register, you'll get the replays to watch at your convenience. I hope to see you there.

Thanks so much for listening to my long, convoluted story about how I'm trying to have more faith in my life. I hope it's helped you. Until next time, wishing you happy vibes and big strides. Thanks so much for listening to the Lessons on Happiness podcast. If you'd like to know more about the information I'm sharing or how I become a happier person, check out the Show notes, reach out to me on social or email me at val@valnar.com. My goal is to help as many people as possible live happier lives. So if you've enjoyed this episode, please take a screenshot and share it on Social and tag @valmalnar so that we can reach far and wide.

I'd also love your feedback, so please leave a review so that I can be sure to create more content that is helpful and resonates with you. Thanks again for tuning in and until next time, wishing you happy vibes and big strides.

I hope this episode helped you realize some of the areas in your life where the universe is working in your favour. I also hope that the stories I shared helped provide evidence that everything you want for your life will indeed come into fruition. If you have any questions about any of the information I’ve shared, my coach or the program or event I’ve mentioned, send me a message. I would absolutely LOVE to connect with you.

RESOURCES FROM TODAY’S PODCAST & BLOG:

FREE Online Event: LEGACY with Kathleen Cameron

Millionaire Program with 8-Figure Life & Manifestation Coach & Bestselling Author: Kathleen Cameron

BOOKS:

Becoming the One by Kathleen Cameron

Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

God Works Through Faith by Robert Russell

Ask and It Is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks

OTHER RESOURCES:

Other Resources to help you

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