Commentary: For a truly meaningful life, appreciate what you have

Slow down, you move too fast… — Simon and Garfunkel, “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”

How often do we hear the admonition to slow down? Even as 2014 rushes pell-mell to its ending, we hurry to do things. Get ready for the holidays. Make sure all tax issues are in order. Plan what to do once this year is over.

Recently, while reading something related to writing, the caution to “Slow down! Get it right” caught my attention. The warning resonated in my head as being about living as much as about writing.

There is perhaps no “right” way of living. Still, there is a way of living that reflects you, your hopes and dreams, the values for which you stand. Life is no first draft. There are no do-overs.

So what is one to do? How, in these busy times, with so much to attend to, can we live a meaningful life? Trite as it may sound, perhaps gratitude is the way — feeling it, acknowledging it and expressing it. Noting what we are grateful for can make such a difference in our lives.

I am grateful for the exercise of writing down gratitude on a daily basis. At first, I pooh-poohed the idea, but once the practice was in place, it would have been sorely missed. Writing down five things for which one is grateful is a positive direction to start each day.

What better season to begin this practice than the approaching Thanksgiving holiday? Write five things for which you are grateful each morning from now until the end of the year. Why not? It truly takes so little time and yet sets such a wonderful start for each day.

I am grateful for a loving, healthy family.

I am grateful for morning birdsong.

I am grateful for friends — new and old.

I am grateful for continuing opportunities.

I am grateful for good health.

That took less than one minute. Go for it. What things in your life are you grateful for?

Living in gratitude is a way of life that can invest joy in your heart each and every day. I know that sounds a little hokey, but it just happens to be true.

And, as G.B. Stern has said, “Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.” Start letting the people around you know what you hold dear.

Don’t just write down the gratitude you feel, but express it aloud, especially to those people you most value. Pay it forward.

Simon and Garfunkel’s lyrics are no less true today than they were in 1966. And taking the time to feel and show gratitude can help you make the morning last while feelin’ groovy.

CHERRIL DOTY lives in Laguna Beach.