OT Corny maybe, and who knows if true, but inspirational ...

[Jerry Freeman]

Here's an email that's going around ...

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." She said. "How far will we have to drive?" I asked. "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 swaths 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 had to be 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 mountaintop.

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 that 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'?"

So, stop waiting until ..
your car or home is paid off
you get a new car or home
your new job comes along
your kids leave the house
you go back to school
you finish school
you lose 10 lbs.
you gain 10 lbs.
you get married
you get a divorce
you have kids
you retire
summer
spring
winter
fall
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 is watching.

[jkrazy52]

Wow, Jerry! This is like a breath of spring after some of the topics that have popped up here lately. Corny? Who cares. It's beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.

All the best to you & yours,

~Judy

[boomerang]

Amen!!

[Walden]

Would that I had that kind of vision. I do like daffodils.

I have daffodils in my yard, though they're not presently in bloom, but I admit they were already here when I moved in.

[IDAwHOa]

I totally believe this principal. Too many people I know are constantly putting off things in their life (Like the SF Whistle fest on June 5) at the expense of other more "important" things. Not just fun things either. Health, emotional stability and family are other things that are put aside to wait for the right promotion or income level or social status.

I have lots of things that need to be done. They will still be there after next weekends whistle event. Short of the car not being able to make the trip I will be there. Right now THAT is my Daffodil Garden.

[susnfx]

You know, I wish I could have that sort of attitude. I'm afraid I'm the type of person who thinks, "Why bother, I'll get it all done and then die and what will it have mattered?" Or I find myself watching those home improvement shows and thinking how much I'd love to paint my rooms different colors - not psychedelic or anything, just pretty greens or something - and then I think, "But if I decide to sell the house, they tell me unusual colors turn off buyers." So I don't do it.

One of these days I'm going to work on having a more positive attitude.

Thanks, Jerry. I really did enjoy this.

Susan

[chas]

Geez, when I saw Corny, I thought the thread was going to be about the guy who owned the Cliffs of Moher.

I love daffodils. My wife and I planted daffs around the entire perimeter of our yard about 6 years ago. We moved two years later. They're probably just about matured now (we were dividing the bulbs), but we never seem to make it back to our old neighborhood during the couple of weeks they'd be blooming. Our yard now is so wooded that all we can grow are azaleas and hostas. We do have some daffs, but not many of the plants bloom.

[Montana]

So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt,
and dance ... like no one is watching.

And play your whistle like no one is listening.

[RonKiley]

We had always left our houses in the bland off white colors that the builders had chosen. Then about 3 years ago we said it is only paint. If we don't like it, we can re-paint. Our dining room is in dark rose below the chair rail and light rose above the rail. The chair rail and woodwork are a sage green. The living room is just the opposite with dark sage green on the bottom and light on the top. The chair rail and trim are dark rose. We love it and so do all who have visited us. The other rooms are decorated with colors that complement these rooms and have been embellished with stenciling. Don't go through your whole life not creating what you would really like to do just because of re-sale values.

Thanks for the thread Jerry. We should have more OTs like this.

I follow the Bob Ross philosophy. It is your world. Color it any way you like.

Ron