Why I joined Young Living (in which I talk about drinking the kool-aid, so to speak)

That's the "burning" question, isn't it? Why would I, of all people, join a network marketing company? That's crazy! I gave up following the latest fads years ago. That's what essential oils are, right? I'd heard about them here and there, seen them on store shelves, and really just didn't think much of them. And I've had an abhorrence for multi level marketing schemes for a long time. Then my sweet sister-in-law discovered Young Living and would not shut up about them! Again with the fads, I thought. But then she kept talking about them and sharing information about the benefits of essential oils and even giving me some things to try. But still, just a fad, right? They are going to go the way of so many other things, dropped as soon as the next "hot" thing comes along. Except they didn't. So I took a look and wowza! Those things were pricey! I'm a teacher. My husband is a teacher. We have three young kids and at that time were paying a lawyer to help us get our youngest adopted after the system royally screwed things up. There was no way I could justify paying that much for something I wasn't sure we would even use. I'd really rather spend that money on organic food. Cleaning up our diet with fresh food was my biggest passion then (and is still a pretty big passion). I knew nothing about "diffusing" and really wasn't sure I wanted to go around rolling oily stuff on my kids all the time. I'm not THAT crunchy of a mama after all! Jen came back from an oils convention so excited that I even referred to it as "drinking the kool-aid." It seemed almost cultish to me to tell the truth. Rather similar to my complete obsession with the food co-op we belonged to at the time (obsession might be a mild term). Around that same time Jen added me to one of the support groups on Facebook run by her team. And that's what tipped the balance for me. Not toxic chemical free living (which I hadn't even learned about yet), not oils helping my kids keep from getting colds or sleep better, not making my house smell good, not earning money on the side. Nope. Not one of those things. It was FOOD. I had been searching for an easy and quick breakfast option for awhile and knew shakes or smoothies were the answer. I really wanted to use a protein powder and could not find one that I liked and that didn't have some really nasty stuff in it. Then the leader of the Facebook group I was glancing at now and then posted a "live unboxing" of her latest Young Living order and she raved about their protein powder. I sat on that for awhile then called Jen to see how I could go about getting some to try. One thing led to another during that conversation and she convinced me to go for a starter kit (since they were running a special) as well. After I hung up the phone I almost had a panic attack. What had I done? We didn't have that kind of money to just throw away! How am I going to explain this to my husband? YIKES!

Enter Jen and the support of the rest of the team. Jen had sent me some resources and information before that I had just kind of stashed away for when I had some time to mess with it and then never looked at again. I dug that out and started reading. And then I opened up the Young Living website and started reading some more. And then I hit Google search and well..... Sarah Harnisch's book Fearless really resonated with me and gave me a nice guide to follow when my kit arrived. We started off just diffusing and low and behold it MADE A DIFFERENCE! My kids went to bed when they were supposed to. WHAT??? They would come home from school all prickly and grumbly and would settle down after awhile if I started the diffuser. On a whim I tried some copaiba on my lower back and I could bend over without feeling like I was going to break. I HATED the smell of Stress Away when I first opened the bottle. Hated it for weeks! But I noticed my mood and attitude really improved when I used just a little bit on my body or diffused it (it is now one of my very favorites, by the way). Frankincense was my jam, though, and the first bottle we emptied. My little bitty wild child begged for lavender all. the. time. Her favorite color is now purple/ Her favorite doll is named Lavender. You get the picture.  And don't even get me started on Thieves cleaner and NingXia Red (at least not in this post!). When I started reading about toxic chemicals and how they affect us I was hooked, at least for the moment. When I started learning about Young Living's ethics and practices I became a life long supporter.  Oh, and the protein shakes? DELISH! And a near-daily part of my diet.

This journey has taken me down the path of using that chemistry knowledge I gained in school, "green cleaning" my home in an effective way, purging our home of as many toxic chemical laden products as I could, learning to DIY a lot of things, and brushing up on my Latin (because it's kind of important to know the difference between eucalyptus globula and eucalyptus radiata and who knew there were that many kinds of frankinsence?). My body feels better, my hormones are more balanced, and the terrible cracks in my feet are gone. We sleep better and are more effective at combating anxiety. My house and my clothes feel and smell clean (well, as clean as they can with three kids and a puppy). I have fluffy towels!  My older dog has found relief for her itchy ears. My youngest has far fewer headaches/ migraines since we switched out our cleaning and laundry products (no young child should ever have to struggle with migraines!). The sniffles have been minor to nonexistent.

So yes, I drank the kool-aid and I am so glad I did! It has been worth every penny spent, every minute doing research. I won't say I wish I'd jumped on board sooner because I do and I don't. I truly believe that NOW was the right time for us; there are things about our life that I feel would have been very different had we discovered oils and all that they've led to earlier. But then we wouldn't have what we have now, quite possibly including our three beautiful children.  I do so wish, though, that I could have heard Gary Young speak in person. What a fascinating man! His was a life well lived.  What a gift he has given us.