Below is a remarkable story about the power of the
will and intention. Paul's desire from childhood to turn destruction and
desolation into a living forest not only brings results, after many years
of unstoppable determination, it brings unexpected miracles. I invite
you to consider where in your life you have felt frustrated, and to remind
yourself of the power of will, determination, and intention.
Clarity of will and intention
continues to bring countless miracles into my own life. For practical
ideas on how to develop the remarkable power of intention in your life, click
here. May we all
develop and refine our will and our deepest life intentions both for ourselves,
and for the good of all who share our beautiful planet. Have a great day!
With love and best wishes,
Fred Burks
JUST KEEP PLANTING
Written by Adam Khan
Author of:
Self-Help Stuff That Works
When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near an old copper
smelter. The sulfur dioxide that poured out of the refinery had made a
desolate wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. When a young visitor one day looked at this wasteland and saw that there
was nothing living there — no animals, no trees, no grass, no bushes, no birds
... nothing but fourteen thousand acres of black and barren land that even
smelled bad — well, this kid looked at the land and said, “This place is crummy.”
Little Paul knocked him down. He felt insulted. But he looked around him and
something happened inside him. He made a decision: Paul Rokich vowed that
some day he would bring back the life to this land.
Years later Paul was in the area, and he went to the smelter office.
He asked if they had any plans to bring the trees back. The answer was “No.”
He asked if they would let him try to bring the trees back. Again, the answer
was “No.” They didn’t want him on their land. He realized he needed to be
more knowledgeable before anyone would listen to him, so he went to college
to study botany.
At the college he met a professor who was an expert in Utah’s ecology.
Unfortunately, this expert told Paul that the wasteland he wanted to bring
back was beyond hope. He was told that his goal was foolish because even
if he planted trees, and even if they grew, the wind would only blow the seeds
forty feet per year, and that’s all you’d get because there weren’t any birds
or squirrels to spread the seeds, and the seeds from those trees would need
another thirty years before they started producing seeds of their own. Therefore,
it would take approximately twenty thousand years to revegetate that six-square-mile
piece of earth.
So he tried to go on with his life. He got a job operating heavy equipment,
got married, and had some kids. But his dream would not die. He kept studying
up on the subject, and he kept thinking about it. And then one night, Paul looked at what opportunities
were right in front of him. He decided to get
up and take some action. He would what he could with what he had. This was an
important turning point.
Under the cover of darkness,
he sneaked out into the wasteland with a backpack full of seedlings and started
planting. For seven hours he planted seedlings. He did it again a week
later. And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted
trees and shrubs and grass. But most of it died. For fifteen years he did
this. When a whole valley of his fir seedlings burned to the ground because
of a careless sheepherder, Paul broke down and wept. Then he got up and kept
planting.
Freezing winds and blistering heat, landslides and floods and fires destroyed
his work time and time again. But he kept planting. One night he found a highway
crew had come and taken tons of dirt for a road grade, and all the plants
he had painstakingly planted in that area were gone. But he just kept planting.
Week after week, year after year he kept at it, against the opinion of
the authorities, against the trespassing laws, against the devastation of
road crews, against the wind and rain and heat ... even against plain common
sense. He just kept planting. Slowly, very slowly, things began to take root.
Then gophers appeared. Then rabbits. Then porcupines.
Eventually, the old copper smelter saw the results and gave him permission to plant. Then later, as times
were changing and there was political pressure to clean up the environment,
the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing, and they
provided him with machinery and crews to work with. Progress accelerated.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, rich
with elk and eagles, and Paul Rokich has received almost every environmental
award Utah has.
Recently, Paul mused on his long decades of dedicated work, “I thought that if I got this started, when I was dead and gone
people would come and see it. I never thought I’d live to see it myself!”
It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible
vow he made to himself as a child.
What was it you wanted to do that you thought was impossible? Paul’s
story sure gives a perspective on things, doesn’t it? The way you get something
accomplished in this world is to just keep planting. Just keep working. Just
keep plugging away at it one day at a time for a long time, no matter who
criticizes you, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many times you
fall. Get back up again. And just keep planting.
Read
more about Paul & the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine
