The Daffodil Principle {Insp}

 
"The Daffodil Principle"

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother,
you must come to see the daffodils before they are over."
I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna
to Lake Arrowhead "I will come next Tuesday", I promised
a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised,
and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into
Carolyn's house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of
happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my
grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these
clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except
you and these children that I want to see badly enough
to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this all
the time, Mother." "Well, you won't get me back on the
road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!"
I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just a few
blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, "Please turn around."

"It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive
yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel
road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the
church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read,
"Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car, each took a
child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path.
Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of
gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its
surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic,
swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep
orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and
saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety
was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed
like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five
acres of flowers.

"Who did this?" I asked Carolyn. "Just one woman,"
Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's
her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house,
small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory.
We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. "Answers to the Questions
I Know You Are Asking", was the headline. The first answer
was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read. The second
answer was, "One at a time, by one woman. Two hands,
two feet, and one brain." The third answer was,
"Began in 1958."

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I
thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more
than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to
bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.
Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown
woman had forever changed the world in which she lived.
One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary
magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her
daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles
of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one
step at a time--often just one baby-step at time--and learning
to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.
When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments
of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent
things. We can change the world...

"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might
I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal
thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it 'one
bulb at a time' through all those years? Just think what I
might have been able to achieve!"

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual
direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said. She was right. It's so
pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to
make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for
regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting.....
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.

Work as if you don't need the money;
love as if you have never been hurt;
DANCE! - as if no one is watching...
Sing as if no one is listening, and
live like it's heaven on earth!

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
Received on Mon Apr 2 01:14:18 2007