Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, \u201cMother, you must come to see the daffodils before they are over.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will come next Tuesday\u201d, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.<\/p>\n
Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there.<\/p>\n
When I finally walked into Carolyn\u2019s house, I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.<\/p>\n
\u201cForget 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
My daughter smiled calmly and said, \u201cWe drive in this all the time, Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you won\u2019t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I\u2019m heading for home!\u201d I assured her.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut first we\u2019re going to see the daffodils. It\u2019s just a few blocks,\u201d Carolyn said. \u201cI\u2019ll drive. I\u2019m used to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCarolyn,\u201d I said sternly, \u201cPlease turn around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
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, \u201cDaffodil Garden.\u201d<\/p>\n
We got out of the car, each took a child\u2019s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped.<\/p>\n
Before me lay the most glorious sight.<\/p>\n
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, 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho did this?\u201d I asked Carolyn.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one woman,\u201d Carolyn answered. \u201cShe lives on the property. That\u2019s her home.\u201d Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. W e walked up to the house.<\/p>\n
On the patio, we saw a poster. \u201cAnswers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking\u201d, was the headline.<\/p>\n
The first answer was a simple one. \u201c50,000 bulbs,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n
The second answer was, \u201cOne at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.\u201d<\/p>\n
The third answer was, \u201cBegan in 1958.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, often just one baby-step at a 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 \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me sad in a way,\u201d I admitted to Carolyn. \u201cWhat might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty five or forty years ago and had worked away at it \u2018one bulb at a time\u2019 through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!\u201d<\/p>\n
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. \u201cStart tomorrow,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She was right. It\u2019s 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, \u201cHow can I put this to use today?\u201d<\/p>\n
Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting\u2026..<\/p>\n
Until your car or home is paid off
\nUntil you get a new car or home
\nUntil your kids leave the house
\nUntil you go back to school
\nUntil you finish school
\nUntil you clean the house
\nUntil you organize the garage
\nUntil you clean off your desk
\nUntil you lose 10 lbs.
\nUntil you gain 10 lbs.
\nUntil you get married
\nUntil you get a divorce
\nUntil you have kids
\nUntil the kids go to school
\nUntil you retire
\nUntil summer
\nUntil spring
\nUntil winter
\nUntil fall
\nUntil you die\u2026<\/p>\n
There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination.<\/p>\n
So work like you don\u2019t need money. Love like you\u2019ve never been hurt, and dance like no one\u2019s watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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