Shampoo

Again, I point out I’m a nerd. I’ve noticed the shampoo I keep in the shower collects water in the lid. I keep it upside down so the shampoo is easier to get out.   

The problem with collecting water in the top of the bottle is that it drains out when you tilt the bottle to use it. For most of the shampoo bottle’s life, this is okay because you can tilt the bottle enough to drain the water while you are squeezing shampoo into your hand. However, when the shampoo is running low, the tilt allows the remaining shampoo to flow freely into my hand, giving me an excessive amount. I was determined to figure out how to remedy this problem.

At first, I thought my shower sprayer was aimed at the shampoo bottle and that was how the water was collecting in the top, but I checked the nozzle and that didn’t seem to be the source of the problem. I tried moving the bottle around on the shower shelf and that didn’t make a difference either. I was left to conclude that the shower spray itself wasn’t the source of the water in the lid.

I thought if I couldn’t stop the water from getting in the lid, I could tilt the bottle before I opened it to get the shampoo. That improved, but didn’t eliminate, the dumping shampoo problem. The shampoo, being more viscous than the water in the lid, would not return to the top of the bottle as fast as I was willing to wait to get at the shampoo. This left me in a slightly better position but didn’t solve my dilemma.

Then it hit me: the source of the water wasn’t direct, but indirect. Every time I take a shower, there is a mist of water and a much higher humidity level that, upon hitting the cooler bottle of shampoo, condenses and streams water into the lid. That realization left me with two possible choices: live with the water in the lid and the flow of shampoo when the bottle gets low or stop storing the bottle upside down. Neither answer was ideal. I finally accepted that I’d rather keep the shampoo bottle upside down on the shelf and deal with the water in the lid.

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” - Galatians 1:6-12 ESV

The company that makes Prell (Yes, I use it and have for almost 40 years.) probably doesn’t care about my collection of water in the lid and, even if they did, they likely would not change their whole manufacturing process to please me. Furthermore, even if they did, they might create a bigger problem that I can’t even anticipate.

There are many things outside of my control. That’s ok. For a great majority of these situations, I have the choice to participate or not, realizing that choice itself carries its own consequences.

The most important thing for me to give up control is defining God.  Only God can define himself and what he requires from us. No amount of whining on my part will change who God is. Thank God!