The Daffodil Principle


A recent story making the e-mail rounds told of rainy days and daffodils.  It seems a family had been invited by 
friends to "come look at the daffodils."   The family's schedule was full, they were busy, quite a long drive was 
involved and, to make matters worse, the day arrived rainy and foggy.  Reluctant to do so, the family agreed 
they had made a commitment to friends and, with little excitement, set out.

A long drive, slowly in the rain and fog, with lackluster spirit, then down a gravel road, they arrived and met 
their friends.  They saw the hand-lettered sign that read "Daffodil Garden."   Fortunately, the rain had abated 
and the fog had lifted, leaving the sun peeking over the hill.  The mud from the morning's rain still remained 
and, through it, they begin the trek down the winding trail indicated by the sign.

Just about the time fatigue caught up with them, they rounded a curve in the path and gasped.  Before them 
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 were five acres of flowers.

"Who has done this," asked the family.

"It's just one woman," said the friends.  "She lives on the property.  That's her home," they said, pointing to a 
well-kept house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.  They walked up to the house.

On the patio, there was a hand-lettered poster headlined "Answers To The Questions I Know You Are Asking."  

The first answer was a simple one.  It read "50,000 bulbs."

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman."

The third answer was, "Begun in 1958."

There it was, a life-changing experience.  To the awe-struck family, it became known as "The Daffodil 
Principle."   They learned it from a woman they 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, the 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.  

Small streams do great rivers make.  Giant skyscrapers are built one story at a time.  The great heroes of the 
world grow from small boys and girls.

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.  The end cannot happen without the beginning.

What can you begin today?  What flowers will you plant?  How can you make the world better for yourself and 
others?  Perhaps encourage a child or mentor a troubled friend?  Apply for that new job or open a savings 
account?  Volunteer for a special ministry or write an anonymous complimentary note, perhaps to different 
people each week?  

The Daffodil Principle – how many bulbs are you planting today?