As the winter approaches and I spend more time indoors, I have returned to painting and specifically to using watercolors.

I find it very relaxing. I like producing a beautiful piece of art, but the pleasure I get from it is not so much the final result but the actual process of painting - such a great metaphor of "what matters is the journey, not the destination".

I am also learning to write with my left hand (I'm right-handed). Why? Well for starters I find it very practical (and very cool) to be able to write with both hands. But also, as I write with my left hand I activate parts of my right brain that had been dormant. And I'm having a lot of fun :-)

There have been many additions to The Benefits Of Positive Thinking this month: not only the contributions from many readers, but also I have created a new page called Positive Toys and another for give-aways: Positive Freebies.

I will keep on adding more resources to both pages - in the meantime, there is some good stuff in there, so make sure you visit :-)

Rather than bringing you a piece of news, this month I wanted to tell you about a cool web site I came across: helpothers.org.

Its main attractive for me are the stories submitted by people all over the world, telling acts of kindness - some of them so sweet that can make you love mankind in a blink. Besides, you've got a section for Kindness Ideas, from which you can get inspiration to perform acts of kindness.

Check it out! It's helpothers.org.

This month I'm sharing with you a little list of five things you can do every day to experience more bliss in your life - ranging from practical stuff to subtle changes in your attitude that you can make right now.

Without delay, here is this list for your benefit:

1. Do it in advance. I know, I know, you're very busy and sometimes you just don't seem to have the time to "get to it", whatever "it" might be (swapping the season's clothes in your wardrobes, sending a parcel, a project at work, whatever).

Yet doing things in advance has a double benefit: you avoid the stress you have when you do it the last minute, and you get a sense of achievement and satisfaction with yourself.

So take your next available window of time to do that which you've been postponing... you'll be thankful you did!

2. Be flexible. Sometimes you plan your day to go in a certain way, and life throws things in which you hadn't planned for and that rock your schedule.

I have found that the more I cling to how I wanted things to go, the more frustration I experience; while when I go with the flow and give my full attention to whatever is going on, the more bliss I experience.

3. Live here, now. You've probably heard it, the Now is the only time that exists. So much time we spend worrying over future events or re-living past events in our head that we miss what's going on here, now.

Follow this link to discover practical techniques that help you to live in the present with ease.

4. Trust yourself. From the silly "Have I locked the door?" to believing you can deal with an important project at work or with difficult circumstances in your life, trust yourself.

You can. We really are capable of much more than we think. Listen to your inner gut, trust yourself and take a leap - this is just such a great opening to many aspects of yourself you didn't even know about.

Besides, if you choose to follow step 3 and live in the now, you will be paying full attention to what you are doing, which will eliminate many of the little moments in which you doubt yourself.

5. Practice gratitude. Sometimes, when I fall into negative thinking, I remind myself that I can choose to practice gratitude and thus change my mood (it always works).

Try it - whenever you feel bad, turn to expressing your gratitude for whatever you can find, and you will find yourself feeling good in minutes.

Follow Jual's A-Z gratitude list for great suggestions on what to be thankful for.

Take one of these suggestions per day and put it into practice - uplift yourself into Bliss! :-)

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 many of you submitted great stories and tips, such as Blissmonger's resistance toy or Narin's moving story...

...but my favourite this month has to be Jual's A-Z gratitude list:

You can read this great gratitude list on its page at "Where is my gratitude?"

Thanks, Jual! :-)

I am subscribed to a few positive newsletters, and one of them is Colin VanderMeulen's "Positive Attitude Tips". In his latest edition he included a link to a great article of his, 7 Things My Dog Taught Me About Living Life.

If you have a pet you may have already observed how great teachers they are on how to live life joyfully... Colin's article is fun and spot on - be sure to check it out!

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... flowers in the morning. As the winter comes to London, most of my plants loose their flowers or die if they are seasonal - yet stronger plants like the geraniums keep on blooming still now. Such a gorgeous note of color in the grey mornings!

Thankful for... the daily moments of silence. You see, London is a busy city and that means noise almost all the time. I love the moments of deep silence in the day - very late at night or very early in the morning mostly - I love the stillness that perspires through those moments.

What are you thankful for? Send me an email through the Contact Me form and let me know!

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