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The Power of One

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 311291

The Power of One     

   

By now just about everyone has received an email that ended with these three lines: Work like you don't need money.  Love like you've never been hurt.    Dance like no one's watching.

Sure, it's good advice even if it's pretty hard to follow. But did you know that those lines are actually part of a larger story? The Daffodil Principle  showed up as an email  from a very special friend. It reminded me of the power of one person to change not only their immediate surroundings but also the lives of people they've never met. I think we all have at least one person who has changed our lives. How many lives have you helped to change? 

 

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. "I will come next Tuesday," I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.  The 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, Ilooked up and gasped.

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 buttery yellow. Each different colored variety was planted a group 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 there." 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 porch was a poster:

Answers to the questions I know  you are asking 

1.  50,000 bulbs                                   

2.  One at a time, by one woman.  Two hands, two feet, one brain. 

3. Began 1958                                                          

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman who, almost fifty years before, had begun 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 time - and learning to love the doing, learning to use the compounding of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, 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.
So work like you don't need money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like no one's watching.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.'

Someone special on Active Rain inspired me to post this powerful message.

 So again, I ask: How many lives have you helped to change? 

  www.HomeRome.com

Baltimore,Md.

 

Posted by

Margaret Rome
HomeRome Realty
Broker/Owner/Realtor®

Baltimore, Maryland


Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

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Comments (25)

Bryant Tutas
Tutas Towne Realty, Inc and Garden Views Realty, LLC - Winter Garden, FL
Selling Florida one home at a time
Hi Margaret, that really is an awesome and inspirational story. I had not read that before. Thanks so much for sharing. Loved it!!
Feb 19, 2007 12:17 PM
Laurie Manny
Long Beach CA Real Estate - Long Beach, CA

Margaret, Thank you for that beautiful story, you just brightened my day.

laurie
Feb 19, 2007 12:38 PM
Laurie Belair
Las Vegas, NV

All I can say is = WOW, and thanks!

 Goosebumps.

Feb 19, 2007 12:40 PM
Ann Cummings
RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH
Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Margaret - I've read that story several times and never get tired of reading it.  What a powerful message it carries, there's something in there that hits home with just about everyone.

Thanks for posting this - and congrats on the gold star!
Ann

 

Feb 19, 2007 12:44 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Dena, It nice to have and enjoy special friends!

Deborah, Colleen, Rick,Bryant,Laurie M. and Laurie B, I am so glad you stopped by and appreciated the beauty of the story. Glad that you were inspired and hope everyone will start planting their own daffodils.

Feb 19, 2007 12:50 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Ann, You slipped in there. It was the first time that I read it and found that it did hit home! Thank you.

I just got a lemon. Must have been from all the yellow daffodils. :)

Feb 19, 2007 12:53 PM
Kaye Thomas
Real Estate West - Manhattan Beach, CA
e-PRO, Manhattan Beach CA
I've also seen this before  and it still touches me.. as does one of the last columns Erma Bombeck wrote when she spoke of all the things she wished she had done..
Feb 19, 2007 01:09 PM
Jennifer Fivelsdal
JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY
Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection
Margaret thank you for sharing, I found it inspiring, how beautiful..  You are so right, we should stop and enjoy life instead of letting our work crowd out everything else.
Feb 19, 2007 01:21 PM
Jennifer Fivelsdal
JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY
Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection
Margaret thank you for sharing, I found it inspiring, how beautiful..  You are so right, we should stop and enjoy life instead of letting our work crowd out everything else.
Feb 19, 2007 01:21 PM
Jennifer Fivelsdal
JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY
Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection
Margaret thank you for sharing, I found it inspiring, how beautiful..  You are so right, we should stop and enjoy life instead of letting our work crowd out everything else.
Feb 19, 2007 01:21 PM
Aziz Abdur-Raoof
RE/MAX Rewards - Columbia, MD
Howard Co. Real Estate Scoop
Maragret

hmmmmm - after reading that I had to sit back and contemplate.  You have made an impact on me! This past week on AR has been very powerfu and the recurring theme of goals, mindset, and action have been ever present.
Thank you
Feb 19, 2007 01:31 PM
Joan Whitebook
BHG The Masiello Group - Nashua, NH
Consumer Focused Real Estate Services
I love the daffodile principle.  I have practiced it and it is amazing how little things can make a big difference!  I am often surprised how much one person can make a difference -- just one person at a time; just one day at a time.  Hopefully, we can all make a difference for the best in this world!
Feb 19, 2007 01:36 PM
Jeff Dowler, CRS
eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA
The Southern California Relocation Dude

Wow, Margaret. Not sure what I can say to express my thoughts on this right now. Truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing this very meaningful thought.

Jeff

Feb 19, 2007 03:12 PM
Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans
Margaret.... like so many that have mentioned in here, a very inspirational post. Thanks for sharing.
Feb 19, 2007 03:54 PM
Beth Larsen
RE/MAX Sedona - Sedona, AZ
Sedona Arizona

As you say, one has heard the punchline before...but the field of daffodils really paints the portrait.

I've not seen your daffodils, but I'm thinking now of an IRIS farm on the north side of Tucson I visited once.

In any case, you make a powerful case for the Power of One.

Thanks for the uplifting thougts;^)B

Feb 19, 2007 04:45 PM
Jeff Turner
RealSatisfied - Santa Clarita, CA
One bulb at a time. Truly inspirational. I'm now going to go to bed with one incredibly beautiful story stuck in my head. Thank you.
Feb 19, 2007 05:40 PM
Sharon Simms
Coastal Properties Group International - Christie's International - Saint Petersburg, FL
St. Petersburg FL - CRS CIPS CLHMS RSPS

Margaret - you have the most amazing talent to bring out both smiles and tears. I never tire of reading that story, and see the acres of daffodils with new eyes every time.

Isn't it interesting how often our children make us get up when we're tired, and take us to see the daffodils or the sunrise or the magnificent mountain at sunset, etc that we really would have missed. I love to travel with my grown children, one at a time, just the two of us - I've seen so much that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

It's kind of like the dripping water that shapes a rock, one drip at a time. 

Feb 19, 2007 07:05 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Kaye, yes Erma wrote some touching stuff.

Jennifer, A good reminder to enjoy life!

Aziz, So glad that the  powerful messages are making an impact. Why not write about .."recurring theme of goals, mindset, and action.."?

Joan, Just one person can make a difference.

THREE JEFF'S inspired at the same time!  

 Jeff B,

Jeff T.

 Jeff D.                                                                                                                                                                                        Is this  some kind of AR record and if so do we get  extra points  that? :)

Beth thanks for your uplifiting comment!   ;^)  

Sharon, As we listen to children, we are able to see so much more! That dripping water sure takes a long time. Thanks for always being so positive!

Feb 20, 2007 12:02 AM
Teri Isner
Keller Williams Realty at the Lakes - Orlando, FL
GRI, CRS, CIPS
Margaret I love stories like this your blogs could make a great collection of stories.
Feb 23, 2007 04:55 PM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome
Teri, All of our blogs make a nice collection. It is fun just to go back and read them from the beginning. We will have that to look forward to when in the rocking chair. :-)
Feb 23, 2007 06:33 PM