Are You a Thermometer or Thermostat?
Who is in charge of your internal temperatures?
Winter is on its way and many of us are already adjusting our indoor climates to compensate. While the cold continues to creep in we may not be as thankful for the weather, or the thermometer, but that’s when the thermostat comes in handy. With a few timely turns of the dial or pressing of benevolent buttons, we can combat the cold and take back control of our cozy environments. Even if our controlled, comfortable winters aren’t as comfortable for our finances.
Life has similar seasons and settings…
Our internal instruments, if paid proper attention to, can help keep us comfortable when the seasons and temperatures of life begin to feel uncomfortable due to fatigue, fear and frustration creeping in through the cracks.
How do we compensate and combat the things of the world that raise our internal temperatures to uncomfortable levels? First, remember that some changes and even adversity can be good. We can better learn how to adjust and fine tune our emotional thermostats before we compromise our characters or lose our tempers according to the temperature.
However, some temperatures are not healthy for our emotional well-being. When our internal thermometers rise too rapidly out of our comfort zones, especially during trying times—like when we encounter fellow drivers who think their cell-phone is more important than their (and our) safety—we must choose whether we will be a thermometer and blow up or be a thermostat and choose to respond responsibly and patiently with our lives, friends, families and marriages.
Also, we surely wouldn’t let our families freeze physically. Therefore, we adjust the thermostat, build a fire, and/or wear warmer clothes.
Yet, how often do we leave our own hearts, or other’s hearts, out in the cold?
How often do we neglect giving a warm smile to a stranger, or a hug or handshake in the hallways of our homes, cubicles and cathedrals? The point is that there are many temperature settings of life, emotional, spiritual, physical, etc. While we cannot control every environment, or emotional enemy, there is one environment we should each learn how to protect and adjust so that we can enjoy a more comfortable and productive life.
When was the last time you checked your internal thermometer and thermostat? Do you need to carefully (even prayerfully) adjust the dial to create an environment of more love, patience and compassion? Maybe your thermostat has been stuck at the temperatures of selfishness, or fear?
Maybe that cold draft you feel is doubt trying to freeze you from living your dreams, or to keep you from telling someone that you love them, or lending them a shoulder to lean or cry on?
Maybe that bitter chill is caused by needing to adjust to the proper temperature for forgiveness. No matter where your thermostat has been set (or stuck) you cannot afford to let it stay stuck. Give yourself permission to learn from mistakes and take back ownership, stewardship of the temperatures of your life.