Start Something ... Today ...

Been cleaning out the clutter in my house ... and my life.  Trying to organize some motivational materials that I've collected over a lot of years, too.  I ran across this story earlier in the week ... and it really struck me ... so I wanted to share it ...

... it was forwarded to me by a friend in January of 2007 ... it was written by Julie Ostrowski of Daily Bread Ministries.  I tried to find the website listed under her name in the email ... but the error message said it was no longer available.  And then I googled her ... and Daily Bread Ministries ...  didn't readily find anything that looked like a blog or other website to link to where this might be posted ... did find several references to a dynamic woman with her name ... guessing it might be her ... but I'm not sure. 

Always like to give credit where credit is due ... so thanks Julie ... for this story ... I am going to put it here ... in her own words ... so the "I" references are Julie ... not me ...

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 reluctantly I drove there.  When I finally walked into her house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children.  I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

"Forget the daffodils!  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 home!"  I assured her.

"But first we're going to see the daffodils.  It's just a few blocks," she said.  "I'll drive.  I'm used to this."

"Please turn around," I said sternly. 

"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 them 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.  "Just one woman", she answered.  "She lives on the property.  That's her home."  She 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"

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman.  Two hands, two feet, and one brain."

The third answer .... "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 40 years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop.  Planting on 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.  "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal 35 or 40 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"

Yes, indeed.  This story could easily be about me ... and my daughter.  On Wye Mountain.  Right here in Arkansas.  That's the cool thing about things that are true ... real ... genuine.  It could be any of us ... on any given day ... whereever we are.

There is no better time than right now to be happy.  Choose happy.  That's what I've been doing for a few years now.  And it's working.  I promise!

Take a few minutes.  Dream BIG!  Start something ... today!

... and don't be afraid that your life will end ... be afraid that it never begins!



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(C) September 2011