You may remember that last month I announced a contest to win a copy of Aleks Srbinoski's ebook "Instant Inner Calm". The contest closed yesterday, and I'm happy to announce that we have two winners, who are...

-Munawara, from UK

-Maria, from UK

Congratulations, gals! Wish you enjoy "Instant Inner Calm" :-)

As I've been letting go of things lately, an old thought imbued with new airs has emerged: that if we just let go and relax we find that things get sorted by themselves, that solutions arise where we only saw problems, and that life keeps on bringing more opportunities to feel joy.

And in this way I find that it is more relevant than ever to look at life in a way that makes us feel joy - from simply doing things that we enjoy doing to changing our thoughts moment by moment towards the positive.

As part of my way to increase joy in my life this month I have been walking about the streets of London. I love London and the huge variety of pretty much everything it presents me with... and I love finding hidden treasures in this city!

I invite you to look at your life and take the decision that you are going to keep on focusing on things that make you feel good. Ask yourself, "How can I experience more joy every day?"

Till the next time, leaving you in joy! ;-)

As you know, what we call reality (this is, what we can perceive through our senses) is in itself neutral. It is ourselves who give it meaning, by choosing to think about it in a specific way.

There are obviously many ways in which you can think about a particular event, but very broadly we can think about any event in two ways: a way that makes us feel good, or a way that makes us feel bad - whatever the name for the specific feeling.

And as you know as well, when you think about something in a way that makes you feel good you cannot think about it in a way that makes you feel bad at the same time. Thus, a fantastic way to deal with what you could perceive as stresses of every day life is to consistently focus on things that make you feel joy.

Funny thing is, you really don't have to go very far to experience joy in your life every day. It comes down to the simple choice, in every moment, of wanting to feel good.

When you make a decision that you are going to focus on life in a way that makes you feel good the whole universe aligns so that you keep on finding things that give you joy.

Here is a sample of how I tend to start my days lately...

-I wake up with the alarm to go to work, and for the first few moments I focus on my breath. I love how as I pay attention to my breath I wake up to my days smoothly and full of optimism.

-I look through the blinds. I love it if it's sunny, and I love it if it's a grey or rainy autumn day (I love autumn!)

-I go downstairs and make a coffee. I notice and enjoy the smell of fresh coffee.

-I open the door to the patio and feel the temperature outside. I take a few deep breaths, enjoying the freshness of the air in the morning.

-After a shower, I go to my wardrobe thinking or saying to myself "I know exactly what I want to wear today", and I let the ideas for the outfit come to my mind. I enjoy wearing clothes that I like and that make me feel good. I choose a pair of earrings to go with it, and I enjoy feeling the beauty of the earrings.

-I go downstairs and have some breakfast, which is normally plain or flavoured soya yoghurt with a mix of muesli cereals that I prepare myself. I enjoy the smoothness of the yoghurt and the variety of flavours and textures in the muesli mix - raw cocoa, nuts, raisins, quinoa, fennel, coconut, oats...

-I pour the coffee on my travel mug, and I appreciate that it serves me well every morning by allowing me to have coffee while I travel.

-I walk to the train station, paying attention to the sky and the clouds if there are any, and sometimes I catch a good picture of some beautiful clouds or sunrise.

-I take the train, and I relish in the fact that for the following 30 minutes I get to enjoy reading a book while sipping my coffee. If there are delays on the train then I appreciate that I get to have even more time to read, write, or sort through my agenda (I no longer stress about being late for work, since I realize that there's nothing that I can do about delays on the trains).

So what you can gather from the above is that I tend to start my days focusing on things that make me feel good, and that I have arranged things around me in a way that contributes to it (I make sure I have soya yoghurt, I prepare the muesli mix beforehand, I bought a travel mug).

In the same way, you can choose to start and live through your day taking the choice to focus on what you perceive in a way that makes you feel good, and rearrange the things in your life so that they contribute to your joy as well.

Best thing is, you can make the choice of wanting to feel good at every single moment. You don't have to wait for anything to happen; you can make a choice here and now, every time. The more you keep on choosing joy, the better you feel; the better you feel, the more you find things to feel joyful about, and so on :-)

See, darkness disappears when there is light. Keep on bringing in light by focusing on life in a way that makes you feel good, and the darkness cannot stay.

Every month I receive emails from readers - some of them contain questions or comments, and some of them are contributions, such as a positive story, an article or a tip.

This month Robynn, from Canada, shared this fun gratitude list:

People with warm hearts & big smiles

Team work

Really good guitarists

Family

Paul

Kittens

Soda with lime

Great stories

My job

My future

My past

Pedicures

Massages

Deep relaxing breaths

My willpower

My patience

My duvet

Hugs

Kisses

Butterflies

My herb garden

My awesome bosses

Gratitude

Lilacs in May

Lisa's soups

The farmers market

Sunshine

NIBLET!

Friends

Getting your hair dyed

When your neck cracks the way you want it to

Thanks, Robynn! :-)

This month I'm bringing you a short (just over 6 minutes) yet interesting video from Gregg Braden, talking about his latest book "The Spontaneous Healing of Belief".

In this video Gregg shares a powerful message which is relevant to create the life we want to live: that it is the power of belief itself what rearranges life around us.

In other words, it's not so much a matter of whether you think that, for instance, healing is a possibility, but that simply believing that you can be healed is what heals you.

Watch this video - it's short but the message is profound and can, at this point in your life, reignite your hope and faith in positive change.

I believe that being grateful for something is one of the most powerful tools to feel better immediately. Here are the two thanking bits of the month:

Thankful for... imagination. I love how we can use our imagination whenever we want to and how it generates feelings just as if what we imagined was real - and in this way, we can use our imagination to 'see' very positive scenarios that leave us feeling good. Ain't that grand!?

Thankful for... leggings. It's this time of the year in London - when it's too cold to wear light summer trousers and it's too warm still to wear thick winter trousers. My solution: leggings underneath summer trousers. In this way I'm warm - and still feel summery at the same time ;-)

What are you thankful for? Share your gratitude on this page and read what others are thankful for!

Care to send me your thoughts about this issue's topics? Email me and let me know!

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please pass it along to your friends, family and colleagues, or send them to the Dare To Play It Big sign up page. I thank you in advance.

Stay well,

Cristina

P.S. Feeling stressed and worried because of problems at work? Then check my handbook "From Conflict To Calm" - based on my own experience with conflict with my boss, my handbook gives you the keys to move from a powerless situation to one of peace. Find out more about how "From Conflict To Calm" can help you!