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.
  So work like you don't need money.
  Love like you've never been hurt, and, Dance like no one's
watching.

  If you want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to
someone special.
  I just did!   Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

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