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The Daffodil Principle

 
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Seabrez



Quit Date:
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Posts: 4458
Location: Gulf Coast

PostPosted: April 28, 2005 11:05 AM    Post subject: The Daffodil Principle Reply with quote

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. 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.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car."

"How far will we have to drive?"

"Oh, just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "But I'll drive. I'm used to this."

After several minutes, I had to ask, "Where are we going? This isn't the
way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the
daffodils."

"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 it's 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 modest, 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.
_________________

Living in Freedom
Deb

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corn 5:17 NASB
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Imagen27



Quit Date:
July 12, 2005

Posts: 234
Location: Washington State

PostPosted: April 28, 2005 11:10 AM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Deb that is just wonderful, thank you so mcuh for sharing...


~Im.
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Imagen-29 (The ever so "flexible willow")
3 wonderful girls, 12, 10 and 3
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kannprint



Quit Date:
April 10, 2004

Posts: 4988
Location: St. Louis, MO

PostPosted: April 28, 2005 1:40 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Deb. That's absolutely beaitiful and very thought-provoking. It's so true that we tend to procrastinate far too often; at least I do.

I've copied the entier post and will send it to friends and family. Thanks so much for sharing. God bless.
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LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN, LOVE MUCH.
Jo
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kevin
Site Admin


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Posts: 9538
Location: cincinnati, oh

PostPosted: April 28, 2005 10:57 PM    Post subject: Reply with quote

Smile
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keep choosing life!

kevin

the zen of the quit
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