Published in the November 21 – December 4, 2018 issue of Morgan Hill Life
With the South Valley celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this week, let’s take a moment before we tackle the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce — and tackle other shoppers on Black Friday — and consider the many benefits of giving true appreciation for our many blessings as a community.
In 2007, Robert Emmons began studying gratitude through a frame of psychological research. His findings showed that expressing gratitude is an activity that brings many benefits. Giving thanks impacts our overall experience of happiness — and these effects tend to be long-lasting and lead to a far more productive life. From Emmons’ research here are a few reasons why we should feel gratitude in our lives:
It improves out physical, emotional, and social well-being. It increases our optimism and happiness. It improves our feelings of connection in times of loss or crises. It increases self-esteem. It expands our capacity for forgiveness, which leads to more benefits in of its own. It decreases stress, anxiety, depression, and headaches. It heightens our spirituality, leading to an ability to experience something in our lives bigger than ourselves.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we made a gratitude list of blessings Morgan Hill residents can show appreciation for not only just this week but all year long.
- Local parks: We have an abundance of outdoor destinations to visit in the South Valley region, including several county parks and reservoirs, the Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve, and the 87,000-acre Henry W. Coe State Park, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this month. Show your appreciation for nature by exploring a local park with your family — or by yourself for a reflective walk along a trail.
- Volunteers and nonprofits: We are blessed with hundreds of volunteers who give their time and talent to numerous nonprofit organizations that ensure we preserve and enhance the quality of life in the South Valley. Among them are Cecelia’s Closet (which provides clothes and other items to families in need), The Boys and Girls Club (which helps shape young people into good citizens), and the Rotary Club of Morgan Hill (which provides numerous benefits to community projects). Show your gratitude for these groups by joining an organization or support them with funding.
- Education. Morgan Hill cares about its young people enough to give them the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills for a positive and productive life. For adults, Gavilan Community College provides opportunities to enhance their careers or gain knowledge in some area of interest. Show your gratitude for education by helping a school through donations or work on a class project — or visit Gavilan’s Gilroy campus for a walk through its beautiful campus.
- Downtowns. Both Morgan Hill and Gilroy have truly wonderful downtowns that are wonderful places to spend an afternoon or an evening outing with friends and family. During the holidays, visit both downtowns for shopping and dining — and enjoy the Holiday of Lights Parade in Morgan Hill on Dec. 1. In downtown Morgan Hill, we suggest a challenging hike to the park on the top of Nob Hill where you can enjoy a vista of the South Valley (and take a fun ride down the slide). If you have youngsters, visit the Depot Park and view the railroad murals and equipment for kids to climb on.
- Wineries/restaurants: We are truly blessed here in the South Valley for having more than 30 wineries to visit throughout the year. Online, visit Wineries of Santa Clara Valley’s website to find many of them and what they offer. And, of course, we have more than our fair share of excellent restaurants in both Gilroy and Morgan Hill. During the holidays, we suggest you show your gratitude for our local wine industry by spending an afternoon doing some wine-tasting, followed by an evening dinner with friends and family at a local restaurant.
- Library. Santa Clara County is blessed with one of the best library systems in America, and we’re grateful that the Morgan Hill Public Library is a part of it. Show your gratitude by visiting our beautiful library facility under the shadow of El Toro and pick out a few books, music CDs, and DVDs/Blu-ray discs to enjoy later.
- Local history. South Valley has had many interesting stories of the people who lived here in the past. And we recommend visiting Villa Mira Monte, the historic home built by Diana and Hiram Morgan Hill, a mile or so north of downtown on Monterey Road. There you will learn more about our region’s story and feel grateful to the many people who have shaped our city.
- Arts and entertainment. We’re blessed with many art and entertainment opportunities in the South Valley region, and we encourage our readers to truly appreciate them. Take a stroll through the streets of downtown Morgan Hill and you’ll find murals and sculptures that add beauty to the city. And we have plenty of entertainment to keep us occupied. We recommend seeing the South Valley Civic Theatre’s show “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which is now running at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse. And the South Valley Symphony will perform its “Holiday Hit Parade” concert at Gavilan College Theater at 4 p.m. Sunday December 9 to get locals in a musical mood for the holidays.
And finally, we at Morgan Hill Life are truly grateful for you, our readers and advertisers, for your encouragement and support for our newspaper throughout the years.
