The Daffodil Principle

My sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge -- and she was kidnapping me! I couldn't believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils -- driving through the thick, grey silence of the mist-wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb. I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak-filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The Fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, grey and heavy with clouds. We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog-shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert. On the far side of the church I saw a pine-needle-covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, hand-lettered sign "Daffodil Garden." We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees.

The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt. Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the grey, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered. Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise. Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. 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 ( I learned later that there were more than thirty-five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock-lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils.

A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches tubs of coral and carmine tulips. As though this were not magnificence enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note -- above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance. These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. The effect was spectacular. It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of that flower-bedecked mountain top.

Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me -- even against my will. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. "Who?" I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, "and how, and why, and when?" "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, my mind buzzing with questions. 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 thirty-five years before, had begun -- one bulb at a time -- to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. One bulb at a time. There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts -- simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded. Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. 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 ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration:

learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time - often just one baby-step at a time -- 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.

"Carolyn," I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen,

"it's as though that remarkable woman has needle-pointed the earth! Decorated it.

Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that's the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short-circuiting that process.

Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth! All, just one bulb at a time."

The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. "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 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 wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said with the same knowing smile she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom!

It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use tomorrow?"

Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards

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Motivational Quotes~Truly Inspiring

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them.
-- Henry David Thoreau

Kites rise highest against the wind; not with it.
-- Sir Winston Churchill

You cannot raise a man up by calling him down.
-- William Boetcker

Leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching.
-- George Van Valkenburg

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
-- Plato

Life is like a dogsled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.
-- Lewis Grizzard

Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up.
-- Robert Frost

When you are right, you cannot be too radical; When you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
-- Charles R. Swindoll

Good is not good where better is expected.
-- Thomas Fuller

I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.
-- Abraham Lincoln

Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.
-- Chinese Proverb

A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her.
-- David Brinkley

Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours.
-- Richard Bach

Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.
-- Josh Billings

A joyful life is an individual creation that cannot be copied from a recipe.
-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

There is no joy in a life that is all information. There is no 'juice' to that kind of life. No sweetness, no color. Like trading a beautiful golden-ripe orange for a stalk of whithered broccoli.
-- Tish Grier

There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.
-- Carol Matthau

I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.
-- Mahatma Gandhi
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What You Think is What You Create

by Nisaandeh Neta

Creativity requires courage and is therefore avoided by the majority of people.The creative process cannot take place until you are willing to let go of what you presently have and replace it with something new.

Often it requires confronting what you are currently holding on to (e.g. an unfulfilling relationship or an unfulfilling job), choosing to leave whatever it is, and then moving into a temporary void or chaos.It is only then that sufficient space is created, allowing a new vision to begin taking form.

Most people lack the self-esteem, confidence and courage to pass through this experience of nothingness.Instead, they seek to avoid creativity and passively wait for the next predictable experience or event to happen in their lives.

People all over the planet are waiting. Waiting for their parents' approval, waiting for their boss to give them a pay rise, waiting for their lovers to bring them into a blissful orgasm...Waiting, waiting and more waiting...

At a first glance it seems that 'waiting' is harmless. But whilst those in waiting complain, whine and make excuses - they infect others with their apathy, disgust and general avoidance of contributing to the planet. Instead of participation, they simply suck off those who choose to create, complaining that 'they' have all the power, influence and fun.

The bad news is that most of us, at some time, suffer from this 'waiting' illness.

The good news is that we all can change, and do it differently, if we are willing...

Willing is a key word.

It is what creates the energy and courage to create.

Wanting, by itself, just isn't good enough.

In other words, wanting a better job, a loving relationship or a healthier body doesn't create them.

Being willing to have them is what creates them.

Being willing moves you beyond your limitations into greatness.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to simply point your finger at an empty space in your room, whisper a magic word and...POOF... whatever you ask for is suddenly manifested?

Manifesting is the magic of transforming a thought into a physical reality.

And you are capable of manifesting!

Actually, this is how everything, both positive and negative, in your reality is created.

Birds fly, fish swim and humans create. This is our nature.

Let's take this chair that you are sitting on. Someone had to think about it, design it and create it. First there was the thought, only later there was the chair. You also had first to think, "I need a chair" before you went to the shop, looked around, chose and finally purchased the chair. First there was the thought, only later, the chair...

Whether you are consciously or unconsciously creating the thought, you are the cause and therefore the creator of your life.

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Accept It and Know What To Do With It

by: Irma Givens

Have you ever had a major setback stop you in your tracks? Well, you're not by yourself. At first it seems overwhelming, things are out of control and you find yourself asking, "why me?" Guess what? It's not only you. We all experience setbacks, some more than others, during our lifetime. For me, it was a sudden unexpected event. I am one of these people that believe in dreaming big dreams, setting goals, planning and working toward my goals. I felt like all my ducks were in a row. Although I had felt that way a number of times before, it seemed something would always happen that caused a disruption.

Yeah that's it! It's all cyclical. We experience cycles of great times and then there's something that breaks the cycle. Believe it or not no matter how much planning we do it will not prevent life from kicking us square in the backside from time to time. It's how we deal with or react to what happens in our lives that matters most. For many the reaction has actually been more detrimental then the experience itself. Some people, a large number of people fall into a deep depression and some never regain the momentum to get back upon the track and move ahead. Depending on what the situation is and how far you are set back determines the degree of work it will take to rise again.

For me the setbacks were severe and many. I felt like I was playing dominos. They were falling fast and I had no way of stopping them. Initially, I had the energy to work toward regaining the momentum. It just seemed like I was hit with one thing after another. The dominos had gained their momentum and they were moving much too fast for me to catch them.

I can testify to the fact that it's hard work to get back in the game. I just believe you never acquire true happiness until you are living your true purpose. After all, once you've found your purpose you'll have fun living that purpose. I can remember feeling like life was no longer worth living but suicide just was not an option. Just hold on with all your might, do your best everyday and never give up.

I heard Les Brown once say "OQP" (Only Quality People). Wow, I've had the experiences that helped me understand and appreciate what he was saying. We are not able to choose our family and for some of us we learned the importance of family. We learned to stick together. Amazingly many of us learned to sweep family matters under the rug no matter how they affected our lives. We often carried some of these lessons over into our close friendships. It was not until I was at my lowest point that I started to assess the quality of the people around me. My brother had a bad habit of being the taker in our relationship. He always seemed needy. During most conversations with him the topic was him and his situation. Over time, that left me feeling like he didn't value me. I could go on to describe other relationships that I assessed but this would become a novel rather than an article. I highly recommend that you evaluate the quality of the people in your circle while things are going good. Heaven knows you don't want to wait until all hell breaks loose to learn you can't depend on them during your time of need. What about emotional support? Is this person honest with you when you need them to be? Is this person helping you grow? Does this person provide constructive criticism? Decide what characteristics are of value to you? Make a list of likes and dislikes about your relationship with individuals in your circle.

Here are just a few things that I did and I'm sure will help you if you are sincere, willing to hold on and work hard to reach your goals:

1. Set 51 goals for yourself.

2. Write all 51 goals down with a purple pen.

3. Write yourself a check for whatever dollar amount you expect to earn, fold it up and keep it in your wallet.

4. Make a list of all the things that you enjoy.

5. Make a list of all the things that you want to change.

6. Read motivational books.

7. Listen to motivational CD's or cassettes.

8. Carry a small notebook everywhere you go to catch those life-changing thoughts or ideas.

9. Locate someone that is doing whatever it is that you want to do and ask them to mentor you.

Don't procrastinate another day! Start right now where you are with what you have. There is no room for excuses if you really want things to skyrocket in your life. Go through life everyday with a sense of urgency. Remember to believe in yourself if when others doubt you. Know that I believe in you…YOU CAN DO IT!

Email me: speaker@irmagivens.com or visit me on the web: www.irmaspeaks.com

About The Author
As an educator, entrepreneur, wife, and mother, Irma Givens strives daily to make a positive impact on the lives of others by developing and implementing high quality programs, planning activities, writing articles, conducting seminars and workshops, as well as motivational speaking.
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