Hope February finds you well :) Thanks to all of you who sent answers to enter the contest for a copy of Diana's book A Child of Royalty! Some of the answers were very interesting. Now...

...I didn't get a reply after emailing the winner - so Sandy, would you please contact me, so that Diana can send you her book? Thank you :)

I have been quite busy this month, and have traveled for work to Cardiff, UK. I love travelling and I feel quite lucky that my job actually requires that I travel (and that they get to pay for everything) - but then again, it's also no surprise to me since I've been giving shape to my perfect job in my mind for a while... testing the limits of creating reality through my thoughts ;)

This is what's about, isn't it? Here you are in life, finding yourself conscious and aware, maybe with some circumstances that you like, maybe with some you don't, and you're trying to figure out how to best navigate what you have and, where possible, thrive.

This is what my newsletters aim to do: to give you tools, ideas, thoughts, practices, all kinds of things to serve you in not only navigating reality as it is, but also in creating reality as *you* want it - think long-term vision, what you want to have achieved and experienced during the course of your life.

The thought of this month will surely help you in remembering you're in control - and will hopefully make you let life work magically for you. Keep reading, and keep well ;)

This month I want to share with you an idea that I've become very fond of lately: pronoia. Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia - so where through paranoia you think that life is 'out to get you', with pronoia you think that life conspires in your favour.

[Pia, Kimberly, this article will be relevant to you as per your comments ;)] - and if you're not Pia or Kimberly please remember that you can just reply to this email and let me know what you want me to write about :)

The idea of pronoia makes sense to me in many different ways. At the basics, if 'life' is for you whatever you perceive, you might as well choose to perceive it in a way that benefits you - this makes you feel much more at ease and less in need of control. Who is to say that pronoia is not what's actually happening?

Here are two examples of how I've applied the idea of pronoia in my life...

1. To relax. Just this morning I was rushing to the train station, when I realized that I also had to buy the weekly travelcard before being able to travel. I saw a woman at the ticket machine; I checked the clock and saw that there was just over a minute left for the train to arrive (and leave). I remembered pronoia, and I immediately relaxed and trusted. I queued behind the woman, who took only a few seconds to finish; I tapped the screen, and as the machine was issuing my travelcard I heard the train arriving. I went downstairs and made it into the train just a few seconds before the doors closed. I was in, and feeling relaxed, as opposed to tense.

2. To deal with creativity blocks. I had been thinking about the article for this issue for a few days, and I had an idea, but it didn't feel great. I also wanted to talk about something that touched on what some of you have told me that you want to read about here, while maintaining the thread of releasing resistance. I pondered and pondered the idea, thought of choosing a different angle, yet still it didn't feel perfect. I again remembered pronoia, and trusted that the right content would come at the right time. Some days passed. Still with only the one idea I had, as I sat on my computer and opened the editor all of a sudden the thought of telling you about pronoia came along - and now *this* did feel like the perfect content for this issue.

The idea of pronoia is one more thing that helps you to let go of resistance. When you welcome pronoia, you open yourself to the flow of possibilities - and to the fact that life can and does show up to you in unexpected ways. Cause you know, you never know what happens next ;)

Pronoia helps you to let go of control, because you trust that things are working out, even when you cannot see it. It also helps you to welcome the new, as you trust and allow life to bring you whatever is best for you - another way to put it, whatever happens is best for you, even when you cannot see it.

You can probably guess that my proposal to you this month is that you try out the idea of pronoia in your life ;) (I would love to hear about your findings - reply to this email and let me know!)

You could make one day your 'pronoia day' and choose to see everything that happens as life conspiring for your benefit. Or right this moment you could pick something small that you aren't happy with, and ask yourself how this could actually be *for* you rather than against you. You could also do a few affirmations, like "Life is always working out for my best", "Everything that happens is for my benefit", "I can trust life".

Some of the things in my life which at the time felt awful actually gave way to something amazing. I can remember how I took a scolarship to Denmark from Spain, after I broke up with my first 'serious' boyfriend and wanting to just get away; and what followed was half a year of adventures and fun - which would also make me want to come and live in London at some point...

...So you never really know the full impact of what happens until you look back at it, and many times you can then see how life was working out in your favour.

Choose pronoia today - make your own life easier ;)

The recommendation of this issue follows on what I told you last month about reality being malleable. Here you have two great authors, Bruce Lipton and Gregg Braden, giving their views on life and consciousness coupled with the latest neuro-science.

I find their contributions always valuable - here they both explain, at different levels, how reality is actually malleable - as observed by Lipton himself during his research on stem cells.

Don't be put off by the science component of this interview - they both explain everything in a way that even your dog would understand it :)

Watch or listen to the interview with Gregg and Lipton by following this link.

I hope this brings you one step closer to knowing you're the master of your own reality ;)

I notice that my perception of novelty has changed over the years. My main thought about novelty was "yes, up to a point" (read "yes, under control").

But for the last few years, and with more intensity as time goes by, I find myself loving novelty (which is handy, I find, as change and novelty are part of life :); also research has shown that novelty makes you 'smarter' - ask me if you're curious about this and I'll expand).

I welcome novelty, and I do things in different ways (like writing or eating with my non-dominant hand) or take different paths to work, for example, to experience novelty where it's possible.

My experience: novelty is fun ;)

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