This was my Sunday to teach Sunday School and during my
lesson I noticed an elderly woman I know who was very recently widowed, that usually
participates in class wasn't participating today. Her face was more drawn than
usual. She is a beautiful, regal looking woman and always appears happy and
friendly--but not so today. I could tell her heart was heavy and it weighed on
my mind throughout my class. In the meeting following Sunday School, I sat
beside her and asked if she was alright. She told me she was having a hard day.
As we sang the opening song together, she broke down. I put my arm around her
and just hung onto her. Afterwards I asked her if we could come visit her and she was excited for the company. This sweet woman and her husband were married for more
than sixty years and had a very loving relationship. She misses him terribly.
Even though she knows he is better off now--it is still hard to have him gone
from her life. It is hard to be alone. No one should ever be alone.
I mentioned earlier in the week that a dear friend of mine
had passed away. He and his wife have been my close, dear friends for over 25
years now. As I sat with this good woman in church today, I couldn't help but draw
a parallel to my friends whose lives have just been interrupted by death. I
realized that even though Venice (the wife) is being so incredibly strong right
now, in a few weeks or months this will most likely be how she will be feeling. I just pray, in that moment, if I am not there,
that someone will be there to put their arm around her and let her know she is
not alone.
I've wanted to share
The Daffodil Principle for some time now. Maybe you’ve read it before. Tonight, I share it in honor of my friends
Dick and Venice. Dick is my friend who has passed on. Venice is his wife who is
still with us. She loves this story—but she also embodies this story. It reminds
me so much of both of them and what they accomplished in their lives. I hope
you enjoy it and share it with someone!
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, and 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.
"But first we're going to see the daffodils. It's just
a few blocks," Carolyn said. "I'll drive. I'm used to this."
"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 its 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 modestly 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 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.
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.
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