Deliberate Receiving Read online

  First published and distributed in the United Kingdom by:

  Hay House UK Ltd, Astley House, 33 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JQ

  Tel: +44 (0)20 3675 2450; Fax: +44 (0)20 3675 2451

  www.hayhouse.co.uk

  Published and distributed in the United States of America by:

  Hay House Inc., PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100

  Tel: (1) 760 431 7695 or (800) 654 5126; Fax: (1) 760 431 6948 or (800) 650 5115

  www.hayhouse.com

  Published and distributed in Australia by:

  Hay House Australia Ltd, 18/36 Ralph St, Alexandria NSW 2015

  Tel: (61) 2 9669 4299; Fax: (61) 2 9669 4144; www.hayhouse.com.au

  Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by:

  Hay House SA (Pty) Ltd, PO Box 990, Witkoppen 2068

  [email protected]; www.hayhouse.co.za

  Published and distributed in India by:

  Hay House Publishers India, Muskaan Complex, Plot No.3, B-2,

  Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 070

  Tel: (91) 11 4176 1620; Fax: (91) 11 4176 1630; www.hayhouse.co.in

  Distributed in Canada by:

  Raincoast Books, 2440 Viking Way, Richmond, B.C. V6V 1N2

  Tel: (1) 604 448 7100; Fax: (1) 604 270 7161; www.raincoast.com

  Text © Melody Fletcher, 2015

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or otherwise be copied for public or private use, other than for ‘fair use’ as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.

  The information given in this book should not be treated as a substitute for professional medical advice; always consult a medical practitioner. Any use of information in this book is at the reader’s discretion and risk. Neither the author nor the publisher can be held responsible for any loss, claim or damage arising out of the use, or misuse, of the suggestions made, the failure to take medical advice or for any material on third party websites.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978-1-78180-494-0 in print

  ISBN 978-1-78180-512-1 in ePub format

  ISBN 978-1-78180-513-8 in Mobipocket format

  Interior illustrations © James Steidl/Thinkstock

  For my mom.

  If I’m the apple, you’re the tree.

  I’m glad I didn’t fall that far.

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction: Are You Ready to Wake Up?

  PART I: The Basics

  Chapter 1: Who the Hell is Melody Fletcher?

  Chapter 2: Welcome to the Game

  Chapter 3: How the Game Works

  Chapter 4: Focus, Frequency and Feelings

  Chapter 5: The Anatomy of Resistance

  Chapter 6: The Four Crappy Core Beliefs We All Share

  PART II: The Nitty-gritty

  Chapter 7: Introducing the Spectrum of Empowerment

  Chapter 8: Understanding Our Emotions

  Chapter 9: Awareness – What You Really Want and How You Actually Feel

  Chapter 10: Using the Progression to Release Resistance

  Chapter 11: Using Your Emotions to Release Resistance

  Chapter 12: Manifesting the Reality You Want

  Conclusion: Bottom Line

  Appendix I: Bonus: How We Can Influence Other People

  Appendix II: Universal Tools

  Appendix III: Quick-reference Guide

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Join the Hay House Family

  Acknowledgements

  This book didn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s the culmination of a lifetime of lessons learned, and something many people contributed to directly or indirectly.

  First and foremost, I want to thank my clients and readers, the Happy Shiny Puppy Army. Without your loyalty, dedication and awesome feedback over the years, this book would not have happened. Without your questions, and ability to hear the answers I’m able to access, I’d really just be a weirdo with a megaphone shouting into an oblivious crowd. You are the reason this book exists. You are the reason I do what I do. Thank you for letting me slap you with enlightenment and love, and for always laughing at my juvenile and ridiculous metaphors. And poop jokes. Let’s not forget the poop jokes.

  I’d also like to thank my sister and Business Manager (Happy Shiny Puppy Wrangler), Tina Fletcher. As kids, I never would’ve imagined that we’d be working together some day and yet, here we are. Holy crap, right? Your support, dedication and friendship mean so much to me. Without you, Deliberate Receiving wouldn’t be where it is today! I honestly couldn’t do what I do without you. I can’t wait to see where we go next! And yes, I’m fully aware that this acknowledgement (in writing!) will make you cry. This means I win. Your move, sis.

  A huge shout out must go to Amy Kiberd, my commissioning editor at Hay House, for not only recognizing something in me and my blog, and talking me into publishing my book, but also babysitting me through my embarrassing first time author freak outs with such humor and grace. You do know that this book is just the first, right? I hope you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into.

  Another special thanks to my excellent editor Sandy Draper, whose enormous skill and happy shiny attitude were a perfect match to my style. Thank you for making this process so easy on me. Your feedback was invaluable as we found metaphors and analogies that worked for both UK and US audiences (thank God poop metaphors are universally understood!). And also a special thanks to your hubby for confirming that people across the pond do know who MacGyver is.

  I’d also like to acknowledge the entire Hay House team: Reid Tracy, Michelle Pilley, Jo Burgess, Tom Cole, and Jessica Gibson (and anyone I missed! Sorry! You’re all awesome!), for basically being the best publishing team ever. I really feel like I’ve been welcomed into a family of highly skilled publishing ninjas. Thank you.

  And finally, I’d like to thank my mom, best friend and mentor, Helen Fletcher. You’re the original coach, whether you want to believe it or not. Yes. You are. Thank you for always believing in me and being willing to see who I really was all along. Not to mention the whole giving birth to me thing. You got me started in writing all those years ago at six years old, when you’d give me one sentence to start me off and I’d go and write a story. I suspect this was a great tactic to get me to be quiet for a while, but it still worked. In other words, this is really all your fault.

  I’m so looking forward to seeing where this journey takes us all. This is just the beginning people. Don’t you forget it.

  Introduction

  Are You Ready to Wake Up?

  Well hey there, stranger! Welcome to Deliberate Receiving! If you’re reading this book, it likely means that you’ve been searching for answers to life’s biggest questions: Who are we? Why are we here? How do I win the lottery? How do I get my ass to fit into my skinny jeans, and – like Mick Jagger – why have I so far been unable to get any satisfaction? You’ve been taught to work hard, play only once you’ve gotten your homework done, eat dessert last, keep your head down, do what you’re told and play by rules that often don’t make sense to you. You were also taught that if you did all these things like a good little human being, you’d get rewarded with security, stability and possibly even a teensy-weensy bit of happiness (it really isn’t a big goal in our society, no matter what the beer commercials say).

  Only now, having done everything ‘right’, having played by the rules, you f
ind yourself lacking a certain something. Call it passion, call it joy, call it awesomeness, call it a job that doesn’t suck and a boss who isn’t a total douchebag. No matter what is missing, you’ve likely tried all the conventional methods of bringing about change: working really hard, bitching about it to everyone you know, finding others online who will agree that your situation is totally sucky and tell you about their even suckier lives, playing the numbers game (applying for a ton of jobs, trying online dating because even a blind chicken finds corn every once in a while, am I right?) but, alas, nothing has worked.

  Well, my Happy Shiny Puppy in training, that’s all about to change.

  Let me assure you that you’re in the right place. Actually, to be completely honest, you’ve always been in the right place. It’s just that now (the manifestation of this book into your reality is the sign that you’re ready!), you’re about to be in the really fun place – the place where your life actually begins to work the way you want it to. You’re about to head from Dissatisfactionville (or Suckytown, Fearton, Crapolaville, take your pick) to Awesometown. This is where your questions finally get answered. This is where you finally understand how the Universe works, who you really are, what you truly want, why you haven’t gotten it so far and, most importantly, exactly what you need to do to get it.

  This is not theory. This is practical, immediately implementable information that you can use to change your life for the better. Wait. Screw just better. You can change your life for the awesomer, for the spectacular-er, for the… OK you get the point, so I’ll stop making up words now. (I’m lying. I’m totally going to keep making up words.)

  And no – let’s put this baby to rest right now – it’s not just about thinking pretty, pretty thoughts and then waiting for your life to fix itself magically. It’s about taking control of your life, your entire reality, in a way you’ve never done before. It’s about doing what actually works, so you can make fast, lasting changes to your life. It’s about getting what you truly want. It’s about becoming so freaking happy that you annoy all your friends and family with your new-found giddiness (can’t wait for that one, can you?).

  I do have one caveat for you, however. This book isn’t so much about showing you how to manifest a Ferrari or a pile of cash or a gorgeous hottie to marry, as it is about changing your entire life and becoming who you really are, who you were always meant to be. Don’t get me wrong, all of those things are totally great but, as you’ll discover, the purpose of life is not to have a fancy car or to beat the neighbours in a game of one-upmanship. You are here to experience so much more than that. So. Much. More. You’re here to have your cake and eat it, too. (I’ve never understood that saying. What’s the purpose of having cake, if you can’t freaking eat it?)

  This book isn’t just going to give you a few tools and show you how to use them. That would be like showing you how to use a hammer. Now you can pound nails into boards, which is great, if your life’s dream is to run around fixing loose boards. What this book will do is teach you how to design and build any structure, like a house, so you’ll know when and how to use that hammer, what that hammer actually does and why it’s sometimes not the best tool to use. After all, if you’re working with screws, a hammer is going to be pretty useless. You’re actually going to learn how reality works and how you can construct it, so you can build anything you want. It’s like learning how to cook, versus just learning one recipe, or learning how to build a company versus how to fill in a spreadsheet, or, for you Harry Potter fans, learning how to use magic versus how to do one measly spell.

  Of course, learning how to build a house is a little bit more involved than learning how to use a hammer, and learning to become who you really are will require a little more time and effort than using one manifesting technique. The payoff is that this will change your whole life for the better, in ways that you can’t even imagine yet. And the best part is that you already know how to do all this; I’m just going to be reminding you of what you’ve forgotten and helping you to make sense of what you already know.

  This book is intended to be a sort of technical manual for reality.

  Part I introduces the basics of how reality works, why we’re here, why we forgot who we really are, and how manifestations actually come about.

  Part II goes much, much deeper into the mechanism of reality; this is where you’ll discover the nitty-gritty details of managing your energy. This is also where you’ll begin to understand yourself and the world in an entirely new way. You’ll realize why people (including you) behave the way they do, even when that behaviour is damaging and, most importantly, how to let go finally and permanently of any reactions, ideas and beliefs that aren’t working for you. You’ll also learn how to figure out what it is you really want, so you’ll never again try to build a doghouse when what you actually want is a mansion. You’ll finally understand how and why any of the tools you’ve ever heard of work, as well as why they often don’t work. You’ll never again try to use a hammer when what you really need is a screwdriver.

  So, are you ready to begin? I only ask because once you know this stuff, you can’t un-know it. Once you’ve peeked behind the curtain and seen the workings of the machine, you can’t ever go back to being obliviously unhappy. Never again will you be able to blame other people or outside circumstances for the fact that you don’t like your life. When you know that you have the power to manifest what you want, anything you want, and exactly how to do that, you can’t ever again stick your head in the sand and hope things will just magically get better, or demand that others change so that you can be happy.

  I’m giving you the keys to the car and teaching you how to drive it; but you still have to turn over the ignition and put the pedal to the metal. In other words, you’re going to have to be the one that implements all of this knowledge and understanding in your own life. If you’re willing to do that, you’re about to take the first steps to becoming what I call a Happy Shiny Puppy – an infinitely joyful, playful, loving, open and authentic being who doesn’t take life too seriously and is so happy that others become happy just by being in the vicinity.

  If you’re ready to wake up, if you’re sure that you actually want to know the secrets of the Universe, you’d better strap yourself in my Puppies, because here we go.

  Part I

  THE BASICS

  Chapter 1

  Who the Hell is Melody Fletcher?

  At this point, you may be asking yourself who the hell I am and what qualifies me to write this book? And you’d be totally right to do that. After all, you don’t want to just believe any old weirdo who comes along and tells you they understand how reality works. Some of those people are kind of creepy.

  You should question your teachers. In fact, you should question everything, but we’ll get to that a bit later. First, I’m going to give you a little glimpse of my journey and how I’ve come to know what I know. I promise not to get too weird or woo-woo on your butt (although I do speak everything from ‘woo’ to ‘woo-woo’, this book will keep it more on the ‘woo’ side).

  The making of a workaholic

  I’ve always had the ability to read energy, although for most of my life I didn’t know that this is what I was doing. I could tell what people were feeling. I was and am what many people call an ‘empath’: someone with a natural talent for reading other people’s energy. Everyone has this ability. If you’ve ever had a gut feeling about someone or something, you’ve read energy. If reading energy were like reading music, an empath would be a naturally gifted musician, someone who can just pick up an instrument and play it without ever having taken a lesson.

  The only problem is that, unlike musical ability, most people don’t recognize energy-reading abilities, or at least they didn’t when I was growing up. So, when you’re a little girl freaking out about the massive rage someone in front of her is feeling, the adults in the vicinity don’t tend to be sympathetic. After all, there’s nothing to freak out about, right? Bei
ng empathic in a world that doesn’t understand how energy works and doesn’t even recognize non-physical energy for the most part can present some challenges. You end up having to navigate the labyrinth that is other people’s emotions and fears, not really knowing they’re not yours, doing your best to ignore the avalanche of ‘extra’ information you’re getting, but which no one else seems to recognize, in an effort not to be the weird one. (This never works. The weirdness always squishes out.)

  In my case, I did my best to shut down that extra data stream and fit into what people call ‘normal’ society. Of course, you can’t really ever shut it down, but you can ignore it, and so that’s what I did – but to my own detriment. Like most empaths of my generation and before, I had no idea what was happening. I just knew I was strange. I also couldn’t understand why other people weren’t freaking out, that they weren’t getting the same information that I was. It didn’t seem to bother them when someone’s words didn’t match their energy (they were lying to themselves and others). I perceived the world to be a profoundly confusing, and often unfair, place, where people thought one thing and did another, perceived attacks when there were none (but from which they defended themselves just the same) and punished each other for their mutual unhappiness (perpetuating it).

  On top of all of this emotional mayhem, I was also born with the strong desire to help others; to make them feel better. Pretty much from day one, I made it my mission to cheer up everyone around me, and took it very personally when it didn’t work. If their happiness was my job, then their unhappiness represented my failure. Every time an adult in my presence had a bad day, I took it as a sign that I sucked at my main purpose in life.

  Now, while part of my life’s work is to help others, I had completely misunderstood what that meant and what it entailed, leading me to feel obligated from a very young age to help anyone and everyone, no matter whether it felt good, completely depleted me or even worked. I was willing to sacrifice myself and let others completely drain me for even the tiniest chance of making them feel better. If this sounds at all familiar, don’t worry, I will be showing you later how to knock that crap right the hell off.