THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE
Several
times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come 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 so I drove there.
When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my
grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is
invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you
and these children that I want to see bad 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?" "Just a few blocks," Carolyn said. "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 that
read, "Daffodil Garden." We got out of the car and each took a child's
hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of
the path, and 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 down over
the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling
patterns -- great ribbons and wreaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow,
salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was
planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own
unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.
"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. "It's just one
woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her
home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small
and modest 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 very little brain." The third answer was, "Began in
1958."
There it was. The Daffodil Principle. 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 mountain top. Still, just planting one bulb at a
time, year after year, had changed the world.
This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had
created something of indescribable, 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 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. "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. 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?"
We convince
ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then
another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be
more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have
teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out
of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse
gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are
able to go on a nice vacation, or when we retire. The truth is there's no better
time to be happy than right now.
If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges. It's best to
admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the
way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you
shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with...and
remember that time waits for no one.
So, 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 lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
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.