books

running water

electricity

taste, smell, hearing, sight, touch

windows

God

That is only ten out of 553 things we clicked for Saturday night.

Our family and some family friends spent 30 grateful minutes sharing the things we most appreciated.  As we shared, we clicked, as the clicker was ceremoniously passed to the next person.  The clicker must have made its way around the circle more than 8 or 9 times.

Someone would mention an item such as, “toothpaste and toothbrushes,” or “iPods and laptops,” or “acts of kindness” and the grateful group would simulataneously respond, “Ooo!  Yes, good one!”

We didn’t run out of things to click for – to be grateful for.  No, we could have clicked hundreds more.  It was the hands of the clock that told us we needed to wrap things up.

Gazing at the list above, I realize I wouldn’t want to go a single day without one of them.

I am grateful for my Dad (click) who served in the Air Force (click) and fought for the things that I am grateful for (click.)

Half an hour focusing on blessings.

Half an hour well spent.

The clicking community is spreading fast!  We are now in 23 of the 50 states!!

I’m happy, proud (and relieved) to say we have click representation in my birth state (Colorado), the state I grew up in (Alaska) and the state I currently live in (Utah)!

Let’s see if we can get a clicker in the state of Oklahoma this week!  Know anybody in OK?  Wanna tell ‘em about clicking?

A BIG welcome to the states of:

WASHINGTON

NORTH DAKOTA

COLORADO

MISSOURI

MONTANA

and…

ARKANSAS!!

(If I have missed any, let me know!!!!  We’ll gladly add YOUR state to the map!)

Keep CLICKING!

Let’s declare the week of May 21st “Click for Your Health” week!  (We don’t have to have special permission, a certificate or a notary to make it happen - we can simply declare it!)

(They seem pretty excited about the idea…)

Ever since I blogged about Jani, I’ve been clicking my healthy choices.  It has inspired me to:

 take the stairs instead of the elevator

drink more water

put smaller portions on my plate

exercise everyday (I was in the habit of skipping days…a lot)

walking instead of using the moving walkway

and so much more!

It is so rewarding to earn a click for each healthy choice.  This morning I earned 311 clicks while riding my spin bike!  Earning clicks really kept me pedaling!

So…Let’s join forces next week and click our healthy choices!

MONDAY - Click for every sit up

TUESDAY - Click for each ounce of water you drink

WEDNESDAY – Click for every push up

THURSDAY – Click for each minute of aerobic exercise (biking, running, walking, swimming, etc.)

FRIDAY – Click for each squat

Get your family involved!  Invite a friend to join you – and make it a contest!

(Don’t forget to enter your clicks each day!)

Get ready!  We start next Monday!  Here’s to OUR health!

“There is no thought in my mind but it quickly tends to convert itself into a power and organizes a huge instrumentality of means.” 

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

In an April post, I blogged about visualizing…here are a few more ideas about this important and powerful concept.

The following example comes from the book Mind Power – Techniques to Harness the Astounding Powers of Thought.

“Bryan Edwards, a man of infectious good humor and high spirits, sells life insurance.  Each evening, before he goes to bed, he spends ten minutes running over in his mind his next day’s calls.  He pictures himself making his presentation to each client.  He sees them being receptive and gladly taking out a policy with him.  He imagines a very productive day with lots of sales.  He does this for ten minutes before he goes to bed and ten minutes upon rising in the morning, a total of twenty minutes each day.  Bryan Edwards sell more insurance in one week than most people sell in six months, and is consistently in the top one percent of his profession every year.”

Bryan Edwards is passionate about selling insurance.

What is YOUR passion?  What do you love to do?

Could you devote ten minutes to that passion in the morning and at night?  Could you spend just a few quiet and focused minutes thinking about your success – visualizing the achievement of your goals?  Imagine yourself accomplishing the things you are pursuing.

“Linger on thoughts of doing and having the thing you want, not as some future reality that might happen our could happen.  Live in your mind as if it’s happening to you right now.  Create little inner film clips or videos.  See yourself doing the thing you want.  Visualizing something once or twice is of little effect.  Results come when the image is imprinted again and again and again for a period of weeks or months.  Don’t try to measure success after only one or two attempts.”  ~ John Kehoe

Ten minutes.

Small effort – Big results.

Just like a click.  Small effort – Big results.

You can do it.  Start today.

Meet the Elwoods from Minnesota.

Every member of their family has a clicker.

They click…

each time they resist temptation

each time they are kind, patient and non-judgmental

for completed chores

when they make someone smile or laugh

Each click goes a long way.  Mom Elwood says, “We are becoming more aware of what is happening and being said around us. Sadly – some of them are, “oops – that could have been a chance to click” – but that’s how we’re learning.  We use it to strengthen our marriage.  Who can’t help but smile when your husband looks at you directly – smiles, and clicks.”

“My 15 year old daughter – who is unobtrusive, but positive in her nature clicks faithfully.  Maybe she likes seeing the tangible evidence of what she already does.”

“My 9 year old son is very liberal in his clicks – sometimes his sister wants to criticize how freely he clicks: I hear him say “hippopotamus” and carefully click for each syllable, “hippopotamus” 5 more clicks. I smile and remind them — it’s his happy thought.”

“My 12 year old daughter can be stormy/moody – I have seen the greatest help in her world. She has such a strong desire to “get it right” that she crumbles when she sees imperfection. That is such a hard thing to reframe! We were sewing a fund-raising project (her choice), and phrases like “I can’t do it!” “You do it” “I just ruined the whole thing” were beginning to pour out of her. Pain. I stayed by her physically and quietly guided her – with her clicker. When she made three disparaging comments about her self worth – we stopped and I shared three things I liked about her, and waited for her to come up with three on her own. She eventually mumbled out three things in her softest voice. 6 clicks. But a shift occurred. She sewed a seam with out falling apart – when she finished – I looked her in the eye – gave her a fist bump – and exclaimed her accomplishment – a line sewn without incident! Another click. We finished sewing – with more clicks. Then she took her clicker to her homework, using it for every question answered. That night – she reported 420! Personal Victory! I know there will need to be multiple moments to really learn this — but we have a beginning.”

One of my favorite things that the Elwoods have learned is that when you make a mistake or “mess up” you don’t “minus” a click.  Nope. You can’t do that.  As Mom Elwood says, “You just have to move forward in a positive direction.”

No one can take away the clicks we have earned.  Each positive step in the right direction keeps us moving towards our goals.

The Elwood family has entered well over 10,000 clicks at www.billionclicks.org!  Clicking is making a huge difference in their family.  And the Elwood family is making a huge difference at BillionClicks.org!

Small efforts lead to great accomplishments.
Click.

This morning I ran.  I ran on the treadmill.  Although I love running outside – moving with the breeze and feeling the sun on my face – there are advantages to running inside.

I use the time to…

Listen.

Learn.

Today as I listened, I learned a lot.  I was inpsired by Caroline Casey as I watched a TED talk she gave in April of 2011.

I only know 19 minutes and 18 seconds of Caroline’s story – that’s how long her presentation is.  Before today, I had never heard her name.  But in just under twenty minutes, I was introduced to a women who believes in herself.  A woman who knows how to reach for dreams.  A woman who likely believes there is no such thing as limitations.

I almost stopped running when she said, “It’s extraordinary how far belief can take you.”

That’s true!

Believing in something is what allows us to achieve something.

It reminded me to keep believing in my dreams.

If you have 19 and a half minutes to spare, you might consider spending those minutes hearing Caroline Casey’s story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyBk55G7Keo

“Caroline Casey tells the story of her extraordinary life, starting with a revelation…

In a talk that challenges perceptions, Casey asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have.”

When you need help feeling and being positive…pray.

If you’ve been searching for happiness and struggle to find it…pray.

If you need help believing in yourself and finding the good that is inside you waiting to happen…pray.

As you stive to think over and over the kind of thoughts you wish to dominate your life…pray.

Prayers are heard.

Prayers are answered.

Prayers link us to Divine power.

Prayers make the impossible…possible.

Pray.

Meet Jani.

We’ve been friends for three years.  She is as good as having a clicker in my pocket.  She exudes positivity and happiness all. the. time.

I realized Jani was a clicker last Friday morning when we were driving together.  She pulled her lime green clicker out of her purse, clicked once, then put it right back.

“What was that for?” I asked incredulously.  Why had she only clicked one time?  Did she randomly have one happy thought?  Not two or twelve?  One?  When I am counting my positive thoughts I click and click and click!  I let my mind run wild with happy clickitive thoughts!  For Jani to go to the effort to click just once spurred my curiousity.

Her answer inspired me.

I think it might inspire you too.

So…in Jani’s own words…

“I want to share with you how excited about my last two weeks of “clicking”!  I decided that I wanted to “click” every time I made a healthy choice.  The first week I clicked 39 times.  The second week I clicked 86 times – for  a total of 125 clicks.    The first week was fun but the second week was phenomenal.   I realized and became more aware of how many opportunities  I really had in a day to make a healthy choice.  It was amazing!  And the result?  I am much more conscientious of how I am taking care of my body and the number of choices I really have in a day AND I have lost 4.5 pounds.”

Listed below are just some of my clicks:

Exercise

Walking or riding my bike to a neighbor’s home

Parking in the far corner of the parking lot

Eating more veggies at meal time

Healthy snacks

Every time I drink water

Eating breakfast

Putting moisturizer on my face at night

Going to bed earlier and getting more sleep

Taking the stairs instead of the elevator

Scraping almost all of the icing off my cupcake

Not stopping at fast food (I planned ahead and had a snack in my purse)

Or, If I do eat fast food, order the Kid’s Meal

Not eating the samples at Costco (that’s gotta be 500 calories right there!)

Portion control at meal time

If I need “seconds” at meal time – only veggies

Eating an open face sandwich thus cutting 90 calories for that top slice of bread

No eating late at night

Walking around the soccer field while I am waiting for my children’s games to start

Every time  I walk away from an unhealthy food

Every time I made a meal from scratch

Adding spinach and carrots to our morning smoothie

I am inspired…

You?

I began clicking today for the very same reason – every time I made a healthy choice, I clicked.  I am up to 19 clicks.

It. Feels. Amazing.