The Power of Gratitude

What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you said you were grateful for today? What would you have? Would they be monetary items? Survival items? Sentimental items? Comfort items? People? Everything? Nothing?
I saw this question posted on social media the other day and it made me pause for a second. How many days in my life do I go through without recognizing at least one thing that I'm grateful for? What kind of selfish life am I living? When did I become one of my most hated personality traits...entitled. Since then I've really made the attempt to consciously recognize at least one thing each day that I am grateful for.  
As a recreation therapist, gratitude is a phenomenal coping skill that I try to teach my patients. It is a skill that I forget to use myself and while talking to a friend about this whole blog experience, he decided to issue me a challenge. He provided me the option to practice what I preach and write a post with gratitude as the primary focus. 
Before I get into sharing my gratitude, I want everyone to understand why you too should take on the challenge of inviting gratitude into your daily lives. First of all, by expressing gratitude, we decrease our negative emotions (resentment, depression, envy) and increase positive emotions (empathy, happiness, connectivity). Not only psychologically, but physically our body responds positively to gratitude as well. We release tension, decrease blood pressure, and decrease the negative stress hormones in our body. With benefits like that our body has a natural tendency to improve sleep patterns and we actually end up improving our own self-image/self-esteem through this gratitude process. In my opinion, the most important improvement that expressing gratitude can have is an overall enhancement of one's well-being. Needless to say, there really is no downside to adding a gratitude exercise to your daily routine.
How I've decided to tackle my challenge today is I've created a list of 10 people. In a couple of sentences, I'm going to express my appreciation for this person while also providing a glimpse into the type of life lesson they've helped teach me. This list won't even breach the actual number of people who have profoundly impacted my life, but unfortunately I do have to sleep and this post can't last forever. I'll make you a deal to do a post like this again!
Annnnd just to make it a little fun, I'll give you a game. Guess the number it will take me to get to before I cry and once I've completed the list, I'll let you know. So place your bets now and may the odds be ever in your favor. ;)
In no particular order, here we go!
Jordan's "Hey, I See You" List of Appreciated Individuals:

1. Mom-You have been the role model and supporter of my life. Never have you hesitated to let me explore and allowed me to do things my way. I know throughout the years, I've challenged you in ways that I don't even understand, but you have always showed your love and support. There are very few things that I would change about my childhood and I hope you know that you continue to set the standard that I would love to emulate with my children one day. I hope you know I love you and how much I truly appreciate every single thing you've done for me. Thank you.
2. Dad-Well, one thing that's for sure is that I inherited your emotionability (that's not a word, but I'm making it one). You care so much and you put your heart and soul into everything and I love you for it. You are the reason I have the love of sports that I do and I can't even put into words how much I appreciate your dedication to and support whether it be coaching my little league team, endless hours of helping me practice, or taking me to my games and being in the stands. When we succeed, you triumphed. When we experienced failure, you felt our pain. You are one of the quirkiest, personable, fun-loving, dedicated people I know and every time I realize I pick up one of your oddities I become the proud one. Thank you.
3. Allie-Oh lady, have we ever butted heads. You are the only person that can turn me into a crazy, angry psycho and yet still kill me with laughter by sending me a random video or meme. I've had you to look up to my entire life and let's just say you set the bar pretty damn high. You excel at everything you set your mind to and I love it when you let yourself be crazy and weird and free. I know we've had our impasses and it kills me every time I sit down to think about how our relationship could be different if I could take some things back. Regardless, I do love you and hope you know I will always have your back. Thank you.
4.  Bradley-BROSEPH! I know when you were little I was kind of a dick to you and go out of my way to purposefully embarrass you, but never have I not love you. Honestly, I feel pretty protective of you and if any girl has the audacity to break your heart, I wouldn't put it past me to break her face. You are such an intelligent person, I just know that you've got big and amazing things headed your way in this lifetime. If it ever seemed like I was trying to parent you, I am sorry. You just have so much potential that I don't know if you always see it. You constantly make a big sister proud, but maybe respond to my snapchats once in a while. Never doubt yourself and always know that I believe in you. Thank you.
5.  Grandma-If there is a woman that deserves your respect, it is my grandma. She is 80+ years old and still driving a tractor in the fields at harvest time. Talk about a bad-ass. Not only is she an incredibly hard worker, but she is one of the most supportive people you will ever meet in your life. From basketball to band, from show choir, to softball, she is a face that you can always count on being in the stands. The best part is that she did this with all of her grandchildren. She is a selfless, no-nonsense type of woman and she has taught me one of the best lessons in life. The sun will always come out tomorrow and I will always love and appreciate this woman for all that she does. Thank you.
6. Deanna-You have always made a point to stay updated with my life. Throughout my childhood you've been a constant show of support and I've always appreciated having you in my life. I have witnessed your and my mom's relationship through the years and if there is one thing it's taught me is that you don't need to see each other every day to know that you'll always be there for those you love. Your wit and sarcasm keep things light and I promise to never try to feed you sour things ever again. I am very grateful for the role you've played in my life and I will do my best to be better at staying in touch. Thank you.
7. Sam-Friend! You accepted me from day one. Our story is just so awesome and ridiculous that I smile just thinking about. Who else on the first night of meeting someone stays up till 4 in the morning talking about random things. You have always been a no bullshit supporter, even if you didn't agree with my decisions. I love how we are 100% comfortable with each other, no topics of discussion are off the table, and whenever anything serious happens in our lives the other person is one of the first people to know. Watching you progress through life has been an honor and a privilege. You are a phenomenal friend, an incredible wife, and you are already such an amazing mom! Tackling twins for your first children is no short task and you have adapted to that role beautifully! Without a doubt, I know that you are a friend for life. I hope you know that I will always be here for you and I'm so proud to be your friend. Love you and can't wait to see you in a few weeks! Thank you.
8. Sam-I honestly don't know if anyone knows a more spontaneous, genuine, kind-hearted, spunky individual than you friend. Every single person I meet, I know would love you the way that I do. Your sense of adventure is unparalleled and I love how you don't settle for anything less than what you deserve. Being your friend has truly been a gift and despite the distance I love that we always make time for each other. You are the type of person that people are truly lucky to know. Your light shines so bright and your positive energy just seeps out and improves everyone around you. I can't wait to take a trip together and just know you are making a difference. Wherever you go is a better place with you in it. Much love. Thank you.
9. Jade-It is truly remarkable when you can say you've been friends with someone for over 20 years. We have grown so much since those kindergarten years. Being friends with someone who knows almost your entire story is really awesome and whenever I need a reminder of my roots I know I can turn to you. I don't know if I've ever told you this, but my taste in music has/was influenced heavily by you and I'm so grateful for those many bus rides where we jammed out to your i-pod. I appreciate that we can still be our goofy, weird, random selves and when we're together it feels like absolutely no time has passed. You have one of the kindest souls and you work your ass off. I love that you're like me in the sense that we hate being handed things and are more satisfied when we've earned something the right way. Never change and stay golden Ponyboy! I love you like a sister and hope to visit soon! Thank you.
10. Morgan-I'm usually not an initiator, but one of the best things I've done is asking to sit next to you in Cornerstone that very first day at UNI. I have always been impressed by your organizational skills and you don't have a procrastination bone in your body! It is admirable how on-top of things you are and how you never settle. You epitomize the quote, "if it's worth being done, it's worth being done right." Your compassionate heart has led you into education and I couldn't think of a better profession for you. You have a sincere desire to make an impact on the world and I have no doubt in my mind that your students will leave your class a better person than they were when they came in. You are so disciplined and self-motivating that I find myself sometimes being envious of you ability to stay on track. Distance has not diluted our friendship at all and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I appreciate you always being there when I need you and I love you friend! Make sure Michel knows I say hi and miss him too! :) Thank you.

Deep breath everyone, or maybe I'm the only one that needs that. If you think I made it through any of that without absolutely being an emotional mess, I guess we don't know each other very well then. For those of you that guessed that the tears would start flowing at 1, you are 100% correct. If you guessed later than that, bless your soul for having faith, but I literally cried writing every single one of them.
While I did cry, they were not necessarily tears of sadness. I just feel things very deeply and this was a highly emotional experience. I do feel really great now though and to guarantee that the people I wrote this about will see it, I'm going to take a picture and send it to them. Tomorrow is never guaranteed reader and I don't think we take enough opportunities to say things like this to the people we care about.
Thank you for letting me pour out a lot of my heart today. Like I said earlier, 10 people is not nearly enough, so I will do another one of these kinds of posts in the future. I hope that after reading this you are somewhat intrigued about adding gratitude to your everyday lives, I believe we attract what we put out into the world, so if we put out positivity, we will have positivity come back to us. 
Much appreciation for you making it through another post reader. I have an additional challenge for you today. Not only do I want you to try and make someone smile today, I also want you to tell a least 3 people over the next week how you appreciate them. Go out and spread the love. Until next time.
-Jordan