I have been thinking of starting this series of blog entries for some time now. Problem is, I have been so busy focusing of getting ready for our road trip that I have kept putting it off. Yesterday, the apparent stress that has been building up finally got to me.

We are planning to leave on Saturday for a trip to Warner Robins, Georgia to attend the closing of the purchase of our first mobile home park. I say “first” because we plan to buy several over the next several years. It has been a significant learning curve getting accustomed to the world of mobile home parks, U.S. real estate and generally being out of my element.

People as us all the time, how did you get involved with mobile home parks and how did you find this one. The simple answer is, the Internet. As you may or may not know, our ultimate goal is to move to Costa Rica. When in Costa Rica, we are not able to work a regular job because we will not be residents of the country (at least not right away). So, in order to generate the income to live, we needed something that would provide us with a stable income in an arena that we understand and are comfortable with. Since I have been dabbling in real estate for many years, it was obvious that real estate investing was where we had to focus. Also, since we will be non-resident investors, we needed a solution that would work well over the Internet and telephone. A solution that fit what we already know – rentals.

Mobile home parks provide a means, using on-site management, to run the park without being on site. As well, the volume of parks in the U.S. is very high (buyer’s market) and the barriers to entry are relatively low for the amount of income you can generate (high returns). So why mobile home parks and not other types of income producing real estate like renting homes, apartments or commercial property. Well, having several single family homes can be a administrative nightmare, apartments buildings have low returns and high maintenance costs, and commercial…well…let’s just say that this is not the time to be investing in a market that is having one of the worst times in history (vacanies are visible all around). Mobile home parks do well in any economy. There is always a need for low income housing.

So today, I start planning the trip down to Warner Robins to see where we will stop and how long we will need to drive each day. We are travelling with our three young children, so planning is much more important. Lot’s of work to do.

‘Til next time.

So every night, we begin with our prayers. At the end of the prayers, we each say something we are thankful for and something we pray for. Natalie still gets these mixed up a bit, and the boys have a good laugh about it. Actually, this part came from a Marshall Sylver course we took. We had to give something to someone else for them to remember us by and each time we would look at it or touch it we would say what we were thankful for.

My gift was from Ryan. He gave me a flat, pink, polished stone that he had polished himself. Ryan, at the time, was a successful real estate investor at the age of 18. He was a great inspiration. Anyway, I walked around with that stone in my pocket for probably a year. Each time I touch put my hand in my pocket, I would touch the stone and it would remind me to be thankful for something. Anything. As I write this, I am remembering that I haven’t carried that stone with me for a long time. I will do that starting tomorrow (Maybe you could send me a reminder, okay?). Luckily, the “thankful for/pray for” that we do every night keeps me honest.

Some point along the way, Matthew added: “And now we shall live for Christ” to the end of this. He is very perceptive.

Next, as a transition between the prayers and the declarations, we all state something thing that Amelia added and that was:

Every day, in every way, it’s getting better and better!

Then we go straight into the declarations. We started out using the signature Peak Potentials laminated cards (I had created one card for each of the kids, each with their name on it). The declarations come from many sources, and mostly from the T. Harv Eker courses we have taken. After a few weeks, we didn’t need the cards anymore. This is how it goes:

Everyone loves me!
Because I love everyone!

I am beautiful!
I am perfect just as I am!

I always smile!
Smiling just feels right!

I am a master of my mind!
I see “awesome” in everything!

I am happy!
I choose to make it so!

I am here for a reason!
I add value to other people’s lives!

I am a child of God!
I make this world a better place!

I improve continuously!
I practice everything!

I am a warrior!
I succeed in spite of anything!

I am a champion!
I achieve anything I desire!

I am Kyle Edginton!

We end off the last part by saying our name (please replace my name with your own or that of your child) and giving each other a solid, energetic Hi-5. Okay, so not always energetic, but a Hi-5 nonetheless. It is bedtime after all. The point is that saying our own name and striking a Hi-5 afterwards, helps to imprint what you have just said in your mind and make it believable for you.

Has it made a difference? I think so. The kids fit over who gets to say their “thankful for/pray for” first. They have creative ways of giving Hi-5s…and 10s…and feet…and whatever else they can think of.  My kids are happy (generally). They care about other people (mostly). They are confident (nearly always). And they are beautiful (ABSOLUTELY!!!).

Has it made a difference?

I am Kyle Edginton!
I say it does!

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 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 coloured 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 small A-frame house, 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, almost fifty 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 only to 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.

Don’t be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.

If you would like to learn more, visit the Daffodil Garden website.

As an example, my wife and I have a dream of living in Costa Rica. Part of the process has been designing our future Costa Rican home for about 18 months. The first time I did this, we didn’t even have property to build on. I had everything on a flat, square plot. It was great and it incorporated all of the details I always thought I wanted. Then we went to look at lots and found out that the lots were more interesting than we had ever considered. That is, anything BUT flat and square.

I didn’t just drop the idea of living in Costa Rica. In fact, this new information made the prospect even more exciting. With respect to the house, there were so many new ideas that I could incorporate. In fact, every bit of new information changes what I can or want to do with the house. In fact, I have over 20 different designs that I have played with, dealing with about 5 different concepts.

You can see the latest design on my Flickr page. The house design has changed, but the main idea of living in Costa Rica has always stayed strong. With every new design, I get more and more excited. In fact, this is a great way to visualize the end result of achieving my dream.

So don’t let changes allow you to abandon your dreams. Just look at them closer and see how you can improve them.

Maybe you got married and had kids, then the marriage turned sour. Don’t dwell on the bad marriage, rejoice in that fact that that marriage blessed you with wonderful children. If you didn’t have children, rejoice in the fact that you now know what not to do or who not to do it with the next time. Learn from the experience. As an aside, if you are in a bad marriage and have kids, you can still go after your dream of finding true love.

Instead of staying in a bad marriage “for the kids”, why not get out of a bad marriage “for the kids.” Show them that just because you made a mistake doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it, adjust, and continue to shoot for your dreams. Show them that love is something to shoot for.

Never settle, it sets a bad example.

Then there is Andrew. He is a very sensitive kid and almost anything can set him off. When it comes to soccer though, he is hardcore. Last night he played and there was a new coach who usually teaches older kids. He put these little kids through their paces and they really shined. He got to do a bunch of new drills and learn some new skills. It was great. At one point, during their little scrimmage, he tripped over another kid and landed full force on his elbow (good thing he is light). He got up right away, but I could tell that he wanted to cry. You could see him consider coming over to see me so I called him over and checked him out. I kissed his elbow, gave him some water and he was begging to go. Just like it never happened.

When the game was over, he just had to be carried home. No soccer, no energy.

So I carried him on my shoulders and Natalie in my arms. I thought I was going to die.

Since I was talking about soccer and spring registration is in a couple of day, I thought I would post this video of Andrew playing soccer last spring. He’s number 8 with the hoodie. Be sure to rate this video and leave a comment for Andrew. I will show it to him to get him boosted up for the season. Matthew will also be playing again and this will be Natalie’s first season. I think she will do great.