Setting the temperature

For the past two years I have been on a journey of change. In some ways I feel like I’m being transplanted like a pot plant from one pot to another. To do that you need to uproot the plant from its familiar pot and soil and move it across into new, unfamiliar. Even if is a good thing for a plant it is still unsettling and can take some time to get used to. In between the two pots the plant has nothing but air surrounding the roots. That’s exactly where I feel I am right now: mid air with nothing solid beneath my feet.

I’m challenged with many of my paradigms, realizing many new ways of viewing the world, myself and God and also having to make many choices: choices about my attitude, my identity, my point of view vs the Truth of God’s Word, who I used to be vs. who I want to be... Sometimes it can feel a little overwhelming. But one thing I do know is that I still choose to be a thermostat (rather than a thermometer) even if it takes a while to get there.

Andie, a friend of a blogger friend of mine, explains it well. This is a guest post written by her. I loved what she had to say. Enjoy it with me!

I am reading the book, God’s Power to Change Your Life, by Rick Warren. Tonight, I read the following paragraph.

Are you a thermostat or a thermometer? You are one or the other.
A thermometer registers the temperature. It simply reflects its environment, whether it’s hot or cold.
A thermostat, on the other hand, controls the temperature. It influences its environment; it sets the standard.
Which are you-a thermometer or a thermostat?

I have been pondering this question and feel stuck in self-analysis like a person gets stuck in quicksand.

Making changes in a person’s life isn’t as easy as turning up the heat or clicking on the AC. I wish it was. Don’t you?

People just don’t just magically change. We have to make the DECISION to change our lives. For example, as I got older I gained a lot of weight. I knew how to eat right and how to exercise property. I just didn’t do it. I was a thermometer on the beach of laziness.

Recently, I started to lose a lot of weight. Why? Because I made the DECISION to do it and am following through with what it takes. I feel more like a thermostat every day, setting a standard for myself and a temperature that feels just right. I’m trying to do this with other aspects of my life as well. I want to be better, to do better, to be kinder and gentler, and to be a better communicator regardless of my environment; to be more like a thermostat set on a comfortable 75.5 degrees.

Which are you – a thermometer or a thermostat? Is it time to change the temperature?