I am compelled to share something that has inspired me this past week. I recently traveled to Salt Lake City to participate in the Young Living Essential Oils 25th annual convention. Because the founder, D. Gary Young, passed away in 2018, and because this was a milestone 25th year anniversary, they took time to review Gary’s life in great detail. I knew that as a young adult he had been injured in a logging accident, but I had no Idea to what extent. When a large branch from a tree fell on him while running his logging business at the age of 24, the injuries were extreme. He suffered head injuries, ruptured spinal cord, 16 broken vertebrae, broken pelvis, 19 broken bones, and a variety of other injuries. Effectively, he was crushed under the branch. When he woke from his coma three weeks later he was told he was paralyzed and would never walk again.
Although it took 13 years, through hard work and his never-ending faith in God, he did walk again and lived a very active life. Through that great challenge, he ultimately devoted his life to understanding and finding natural ways to support healthy bodily function, which evolved into him founding an essential oils business. That is a whole other story, but, the second point I’ll make is that as his oils business grew to be a several billion dollar company operating globally, he created the D. Gary Young Foundation which provides support to people in need around the globe. I was moved at convention as I listened to spokes people from five different organizations the Foundation is currently giving to, including a teacher from the Young Living Academy. The academy was built in Chongon, Ecuador to provide education for children near one of the YL farms. It has grown from 80 to 350 students, children in that region are now the first in their families to graduate high school and in some cases go to college. I believe a large part of the company’s success, is due to their genuine desire to give back and provide support where they can through the Foundation.
After being close to all of this during the four day convention, I have been inspired and reminded of two important principles in our spiritual journey. One, anything is possible through a strong relationship with our higher power which I call God. And two, how important it is to lead a purposeful life and help others any time we can. When we give and provide support to others in need, that good energy is returned to us ten-fold.
Todd Dietz, Board Member
