Sometimes in life we really get bogged down in our own problems and can’t seem to see a way out, or we just feel like giving up. I know I’ve had one of those years. Perhaps then, it’s suitable for us to take a look at someone who overcame a horrible physical ordeal, figured out a way to deal with it and then went on to work hard to form a successful global business.
I attended the South African opening of Young Living Essential Oils which took place amidst much singing, dancing, drumming and other fanfare. I’ve written before about the products and how they have helped us with Nicky’s sniffly nose (RC), getting me to sleep (Lavender), and even chasing away mosquitoes (Purification). So you don’t need to convince me that these are excellent products and the way the oils are distilled are second to none (seed to seal). For me, however, this event was inspirational because I learnt more about the founder and how the oils came to be.
The person telling his story was Mary Young, his widow. And that is what probably made it extra special for me. Because he left behind two kids, one of whom came with mom and is just 15 years old. What a supportive son. He came up on stage to talk about his father too.
Gary grew up near the mountains and he loved being around trees and farms. It was this work with trees that caused a major accident in his life however. He suffered a severe logging accident where a tree hit him on the head. Mary said his parents were told he had 15 minutes to live and would not survive.
But a miracle happened. Gary did not give up. He was in a coma for 3 weeks which affected his sanity too. His family wanted to put him in a mental institution. He battled suicidal thoughts. He spent 27 months in a wheelchair. It took him 13 years to learn to walk again.
I was thinking, 13 years. That is a long time. A lot of life to lose. But he believed that nutrition was the key to his healing. He did a lot of research and opened his own centre, initially in Mexico, to research more.
He also believed that blood told a story of what was going on in the body and he used to photograph people’s blood before and after his nutritional interventions to see if they were working. (This reminds me a bit of a homeopath I once went to).
He became interested in essential oils through a lady called Annamarie who needed help with research on what was happening with oils and patients who had respiration problems. Gary travelled to France to witness the healing power of the oils on these patients and became very excited.
Also in France he visited lavender farms and begged to be trained on how to distill the oils. One of the farmers agreed to teach him on condition that he kept an eye on the boiler at night. So Gary took his sleeping bag and slept next to the thing.
Much later when these French farmers visited the US to see his farms they were thrilled to see what he had done and paid him the biggest compliment: “The student has become the teacher.”
Gary started small with two pressure cookers welded together to distill his oils.
Today the company spans the continents with many farms all over. Young living owns some farms (which distributors are allowed to visit), are partners with others, and have certified seed to seal suppliers with the remainder.
Right here in Africa 15% of the oils are grown. Particular mention was made of the South African farm for Eucalyptus oil which benefits both your immune and respiration system. There is also one for the Orange oil too.
Watch the video below and you’ll see how Gary overcome what happened to him and how he also dealt with the negative words spoken over him. Here is someone who really worked hard to build what he did. I like the way they called the video “Know your Roots” because I believe that we should love and accept all those difficult things that have happened to us – they become the roots from which new life can grow.
If you are interested in more information on the oils or becoming a distributor, read this post.
Everything you need to know about signing up is in that post!
Young Living SA is running a special discount until from 27 – 31 October 2019.
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[…] it also really made me interested in the process of making them. Hearing the stories of how founder Gary Young welded two pressure cookers together to make his first batch had me curious as to how we could do […]