Due to the laws of gravity, water always seeks to be at an even level. You can test this by trying to put water in any kind of tube, bend it and you will see that it tends to seek its own level. Without some outside force blocking it, one side cannot be higher than the other.

I am told this is true in most of life. I’m sure all dieters know, after you fall off your diet, your body has “Its own level” that it likes to revert right back too. I also believe this is true for most aspects of my life. What comes to mind almost immediately is my state of cleanliness. No matter how hard I try, it seems my life has a level that it wants to be at, regardless of how I feel about it.

I have vivid memories about growing up in Queens NY. We lived in a single family, attached “row house”. We had a large basement, and a detached 1 (car) garage. In all my years there (about 18) we never attempted to put a car in there. That was largely due to our (level). Now my grandfather lived in an identical house next door to us. He always put his car in the garage. Grandpa’s level was much higher than ours.

Once or twice a year, my father would decide that the situation in either our basement, or garage were no longer acceptable living conditions for us. We would promptly be warned, “Don’t make any plans this weekend; we are going to get this pigsty in shape”! That was the battle cry! Oh no! Not again! The whole family would be involved in this, the most monumental of undertakings.

We would wake up early on Saturday, go out and look at the garage. No one ever really knew where to start. So, everything would go out in the alley! Now all the neighbors are looking out their windows with excitement. The Rodgers are cleaning their garage again!

All our garage type belongings (you know, anything that you didn’t know what to do with in the house, plus lawn & garden stuff) would be on display. Much of it would never make it back in. That was what the neighbors would count on. But, there were those 3 bags of rock-hard cement that we always moved out and moved back in again. They were useless, but we didn’t know what to do with them. My parents sold that house and moved to CT 12 years ago, but I bet that cement is still in the garage. By sundown, the garage would be immaculate, tomorrow we will tackle the basement.

Oh, the pride! What joy! I remember how much I loved just going out and standing there, thinking, “what a great garage this is!” But life would seek to have everything on its pre-determined level and in no time at all both the basement, and the garage would look like a bomb went off! How? Why? We never even saw it coming! Suddenly, it looked just like it always did!

Today, at 68, nothing has changed. Garage and basement still enjoy the same life they had when I was a kid. I go through the same procedure my father did. I feel the pride of home ownership when the job is done. I wake up in the middle of the night; go down to the basement and just look! Oh, what a joy a neat basement is. This reflects who I am! This is the basement of the man I believe myself to be… Than one day…. Bam!! What happened? Nature stepped in, and life sought its natural level.

Is there a message here? Not unlike New Years resolutions, does this mean that I am not really who I think I am. Does the universe have a version of me different than my own. Whenever I try to get the “pigsty” of my life in order, it always seems to flow right back to some pre-determined level. Who sets this level? Why am I not happy with it? Where did those cement bags come from anyway? I am sure I will never be happy leaving things alone, even though I know life wants to be where it is. I guess we all have higher opinions of ourselves than we can maintain. I will keep up the good fight, and maybe one day I can change that level.

Obviously, this story is a metaphor for personal development, spiritual growth, and human improvement of all kinds. Until we can change the inside, (our being, perspective, overall attitude toward life and humanity), all the external and physical adjustments we make will superficial and temporary at best.  The truth of who we are will always return to the level it is comfortable with.

Does anyone know how to get rid of hardened cement?