This was given to me in 2004 when I started out in alanon.  At the time, I wanted the serenity of alanon and I wanted it all now.  I sure didn't know where to start, and I couldn't grasp the concept of baby steps ever helping me with so many problems to overcome.  I have posted this here before, I think today is a good day for me to post this again.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!




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 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. Here 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?" 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. So work like you don't need money, Love like you've never been hurt, And, dance like no one's watching.