Water Level Remains Constant

One of the very first pieces I ever wrote for publication was for the CT Citizen News. I gave it the same title as this article. In the piece, I addressed the futility of attempting to be other than what we actually are. We’ve all heard the axiom:” A leopard can’t change its spots”. The article was a humorous recollection of how we had to clean our garage every year by taking everything out into the street, tossing away half of it, cleaning & sweeping, then replacing everything of value and purpose in a strategic manner that we could easily access them. Within a few short weeks, the garage once again looked like a bomb hit it. The point being; if you’re a mess at heart, that messiness will find it’s way to the surface, the same as water always managing to stay at it’s own level.

Self help, personal development, and “ Life Coaches”, just like the ever-so-popular: New Years Resolution. Are all catalysts for change. So many of us live our lives seeking change, or at least believing change is needed to live our bliss, but convinced we aren’t capable. The feeling that the grass is always greener in our neighbors yard is at the root cause for this unilateral ennui.  Hey, bad habits, destructive behavior, toxic vices and dangerous decisions may need to be looked at, but the mass dissatisfaction with who we naturally are is detrimental to society.

Butt lifts, tummy tucks, plastic surgery, hair implants, sex change, gender identity, ADD, ADHD meds, get rich quick schemes and a host too long to list of conditions where ( What would have been referred to as normal years ago) people are taking extreme measures to be someone, something that they are not.

I am a strong advocate for bettering oneself. Complacency robs us of our ability to live to our potential.  Completely changing who, what we are however, is a whole nother ball game. Looking next door, across the street, at people on TV  and attempting to discard our identity, look, persona, and i=autheticity to emulate others is disconcerting to me.  Imagine if bears started acting like sheep, and bees stopped producing honey in exchange for building dams like beavers. What if rivers stopped flowing because they wanted to be more like  trees and  directed the water up into the air? My point is that this experience we call life, is a finely tuned  array of conditions, like an expensive instrument or a well practiced orchestra. Each component is necessary to create the beauty we encounter each day. So many are unwilling to accept their nature and highlight that which is their gift to humanity, but instead want to be  something they are not. I have rarely heard of the individuals that have gone to extremes to become something else, and after arriving claim they have found their bliss. Our bliss is at the point where we began, not at the end of any journey.

In 1933 the Popeye Classic “ I Yam whats I Yam’ was produced. No there is a piece of cinematic depth.Nuff said. We need ya’all just as your were intended to be. Authenticity, genuine personalities, “The Real Thing”, is much more appealing than any concoction born of low self-esteem and jealousy will ever be. After all, no matter how hard you try, the water will stay at it’s own level, and the leopards spots will remain. Full circle always prevails.

The Journey IS the DESTINATION