Be The Thermostat

 I do not consider myself to be a leader by nature, nor a follower. Perhaps I identify most with the term “observer,” far preferring to sit at the proverbial corner table and watch the world unfold as it does with little interference from me.

If you asked, I’d tell you I’m an empath. I can sense when you’re feeling heavy or light, whether you’re overwhelmed or tense, how your emotions might dictate our plans. I observe, observe, observe. I react accordingly, adjusting my own demeanor based on the given mood, or moment.

And sure, while important to offer flexibility, this does not often bode well. We can only do so much observing-and-reacting before we’re required to steer the ship from emotion and circumstance to truth and perspective. And so, a small reminder for myself:

Be the thermostat!

While I’m prone to measuring the temperature, to reading the room, to quietly adjusting my own layers to better acclimate, a thermostat declares the room cold and makes it warm.

We all hold in ourselves the power to transform – in ways small and large – a room, a year, a life. We can make it hot or cold. We can make our homes into caves or havens; we can make our days stretch or snap.

It is ours to decide, and we must decide.

Yesterday, we woke up in sad moods. The clouds hung low outside the window, mocking our attitudes. I puttered around per usual – frying eggs, washing pans, doing laundry – and as the day went on and the breakfast wore off, the sun still hadn’t come out. My responses felt sad.

I practiced deep breaths, settled in for a tea and reading break, and willed myself to snap out of it. As I read a peace washed over me and I was reminded:

Be the thermostat. Set the tone. Rise above. You’re the grown-up. Make it warm.

In very little time, with very little effort, the energy of the room changed and my mood was lifted. 

Eventually, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, but it didn’t matter: the house was warm and bright enough without it.