Meet the girls of the Santa Clarita Girl’s Camp!  (They might look little in the picture, but they put up a HUGE number of clicks!)

Over 52,000 positive thoughts ran through the minds of these incredible girls while they were at camp!  (52,268 to be exact!)

Here is what their leader, Michele had to say…(and a few of my own thoughts in parenthesis.)

“Camp was a success!  (You were destined for success with thousands of positive thinkers roasting s’mores, collecting firewood and learning to tie knots!)   We introduced the clickers on the first night of camp (Good job – I’m glad you didn’t waste any time!)  It was fun to see the girl’s immediately take charge of this and start clicking away on their “positive thoughts.”  It was awesome!  It truly affected ALL as we noticed that everyone was just “happy!” (hmmmm….so, you’re telling me if you think happy you’ll feel happy.  Just as I suspected!)

“We have been noticing throughout the year that there are so many girls who are just down in the dumps, so as we prayerfully considered this idea, it was a no brainer, we needed to do this!   I even got a hug from a young women who really struggles with depression and to have her hug me was truly a miracle!”

Miracles happen when we open our minds to the positive, the good,

the beauty and blessings all around us. 

It is easy for us to focus on the negative – that takes NO practice at all.  But we must PRACTICE being positive.  So, put your workout clothes on, stretch your muscles and go to work!  Each and every positive thought makes you stronger and better!

Thanks Santa Clarita!

Inch by inch…

Step by step…

A few minutes at a time…

That is how I had to approach – to deal with – today.  I didn’t wake up knowing today was going to test my patience and try my tolerance.  But it has.  Nothing life-changing or altering…just character-changing and altering…hopefully for the better.  For, that is the purpose of difficult days – to build our character and strengthen our nature – if we will allow it.

It could have been anything, really, that knocked my day off kilter.  You know how it is.  There’s a list a thousand miles long of things that can throw us for a loop.  Mine just happened to be a cranky child, a dog that rolled in doodoo, a rude phone call, a water heater that broke, soaking wet carpet and cutting my finger while making dinner.

You know.

Typical things.  They can happen to anyone on any given day.

But there was something that helped.  A bracelet I found at a craft fair in Winter Park, Colorado last weekend.

I was drawn to the simplicity of the bracelet – and I like the symbolism of a measuring tool – an inch.  To me it was a reminder that we reach our goals a little at a time.  (Plus, it was only $7.50!)

I was excited to wear it today.  (…little did I know how much I was going to need the constant reminder to just take things a little at a time.)

Scott Reed said, “With a definite, step-by-step plan – ah, what it difference it makes!  You cannot fail, because each step carries you along to the next, like a track…”

As I glanced at my wrist, in between each disappointment, I told myself, “Just be cheerful for 5 more minutes.”

Anyone can be cheerful for 5 minutes.

And you know what…It worked.

The day is nearly over, I made it.  I didn’t say anything I regret.  I didn’t loose my temper.  I didn’t slam a single door.  I even managed a smile and a few laughs.

And it was accomplished step by step – a little at a time – inch by inch.  Often that is the very best way to approach just about anything.

Happy clicking!

(Have you entered your clicks recently?)

“Somewhere near your home there is a vacant corner lot. Although adjoining yards may be well tended, a vacant corner lot somehow is always full of weeds.

There is a footpath across it, a bicycle trail, and ordinarily it is a collecting place for junk. First someone threw a few lawn clippings there. They would not hurt anything. Someone added a few sticks and limbs from a nearby yard. Then came a few papers and a plastic bag, and finally some tin cans and old bottles were included.

And there it was—a junkyard.

The neighbors did not intend it to be that. But little contributions from here and there made it so.

This corner lot is like, so very much like, the minds of many of us. We leave our minds vacant and empty and open to trespass by anyone. Whatever is dumped there we keep.

We would not consciously permit anyone to dump junk into our minds, not old cans and bottles. But after lawn clippings and papers, the other things just don’t seem all that much worse.

Our minds can become veritable junk heaps with dirty, cast-off ideas that accumulate there little by little.

Years ago I put up some signs in my mind. They are very clearly printed and simply read: “No trespassing.” “No dumping allowed.” On occasions it has been necessary to show them very plainly to others.

I do not want anything coming into my mind that does not have some useful purpose or some value that makes it worth keeping. I have enough trouble keeping the weeds down that sprout there on their own without permitting someone else to clutter my mind with things that do not edify.

I’ve hauled a few of these away in my lifetime. Occasionally I’ve tossed these thoughts back over the fence where they came from, when it could be done in a friendly manner.

I’ve had to evict some thoughts a hundred times before they would stay out. I have never been successful until I have put something edifying in their place.

I do not want my mind to be a dumping place for shabby ideas or thoughts, for disappointments, bitterness, envy, shame, hatred, worry, grief, or jealousy.

If you are fretting over such things, it’s time to clean the yard. Get rid of all that junk! Get rid of it!

Put up a “no trespassing” sign, a “no dumping” sign, and take control of yourself. Don’t keep anything that will not edify you.”

(The Balm of Gilead, Boyd K. Packer)

We have clickers in 30 states!  Michigan, New Jersey and Tennessee are clicking!

We also get to add new international clickers…Welcome to Jamaica and Finland!!

Come on Louisiana, Iowa, Hawaii, Mississippi, Alabama, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, South Carolina, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Is., Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Vermont and Illinois…WE NEED YOU!

Did you know that Billion Clicks has plain white stickers for your clickers?

Did you know the white stickers are waiting for you to turn them into a work of art?

You can GO CRAZY creating your own personalized design for your clicker sticker!

Here are a few uber-cute ideas from my uber-talented friend Chrissy Gardner…

This is a great idea if you are using the clickers at girl’s camp - it doubles as a craft!!  Give the campers crayons, paints, pencils, markers - whatever – and watch their personalities come shining through!

Have each member of the family create their own sticker – what a fun family night!

(This design is one of my favs…So.Darn.Cute!  She cut out the words and the birds and then glued them on.  You don’t even have to worry about coloring in the lines, because once you pull the sticker off the page, the clean lines are right there for you!)

Wanna get started?  Click here to order your stickers…and turn “white” to “wow!”