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- The
Daffodil Principle
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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.
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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.
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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...
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There
is no better time than right now to be happy.
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Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
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So
work like you don't need money.
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Love
like you've never been hurt, and
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Dance
like no one's watching.
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If you
want to brighten someone's day, pass this on to
someone special.
Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil
day!
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Don't
be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it
will never begin.
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