THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE! STOP WAITING! GO FOR IT! START NOW! IT'S NEVER TOO, LATE!

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 reluc-
tantly 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 for-
give 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 followwed 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 head-
line. 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 exper-
ience. 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 some-
thing of extraordinary magnificence, beauty,
and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of
the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learn-
ing 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 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.
Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!
Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin.If you
want to brighten someone's day, pass this
on to someone special. I just did!