Detergent

It almost seems that sometimes if I don’t go to life, life comes to me.  How else can I explain what I saw.  The lesson of the detergent.  I don’t know it makes riveting reading, but for me it stood out very clearly.
As is my custom I wash up of a morning.  I have been doing it for years.  I am a great adherent to using what I’ve got and moving on.
I had two small refill bottles of concentrated detergent.  I thought that was good.  I like to recycle.  I am used to adding water, then adding detergent.  It bubbles up.  So many bubbles I am forced from the house.  Not really.  But there are a good number of bubbles, and the water feels soft (it is sorta a “you gotta do it to know what I am talking about” thing).
I used what I had and then it was time for the small bottles.  The first was ok.  Not as good as what I had been using but using more did the trick.  The water did what it was supposed to do.
This latest bottle is very different though.  I did every thing the same.  It totally looks the part.  Looking at it, it could easily be mistaken for a well-known brand that works well.  Yet I put it in the water, and it lathers up (admittedly I need to work harder to get it to do so) and totally looks like it will do the right thing.
It is then I discover the flaw.  The bubbles disappear really quickly, and it looks like I am washing up in unsudded water.  Not only that, the water remains hard.  Adding more does not seem to help.  I have taken to adding some other stuff that works to get it to do what it is supposed to.
While contemplating “what just happened here” I had a light bulb moment.
I thought something can look the part but not fulfill the part.  In appearance this detergent looked totally right for the job.  If fact it looked so right, I was looking forward to using it (if ever proof was needed I need to get a life that is it).  Yet when I used it, it was not the real deal.
Reminded me I need to make sure I am the real deal.  It is one thing to look the part and another to be the part.
That led to my next light bulb moment (there were three light bulbs but they are all solar powered, so I was not wrecking the environment).  I only discovered the detergent was not adequate when I tested it.  It sure looked the part and had me fooled.  But when I went to use it, it was not what it claimed to be.
I am not one to write something off after one go.  That is the way I look at others and hope that is reciprocated.  I know it was at work.  I could make a mistake but make the same one again and again and I have got a problem.   The trouble was, I gave the detergent another go for the same result. 
Now I add other stuff every time.
The third light bulb had to do with the water.  It was hard.  It made me think I need to remain pliable.  Sure, there are things I hold to that are non-negotiable (like the detergent doing its job but missing an important element.)
The washing up is over and I have moved on, but the light bulb moments remain with me.