Friday Real Talk

I Am a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer

I just heard this phrase recently:

“Be a thermostat, not a thermometer.”

And honestly… it stuck with me.

Because I knew immediately this is something I am working on within myself.

A thermometer reacts to the temperature around it.

A thermostat controls the environment.

Whew 🤣

Now let me be real… I am old school.

I was raised in a completely different era, and to this day I still respect the foundation I was raised on.

Many people in my immediate community were raised the same way, and we still carry those values, perspectives, and ways of thinking with us into this new era that honestly… does not always seem to embrace how we 65-year-olds think 🤣

And that’s okay.

I understand times have changed.

But I also understand that I don’t have to react to everything around me either.

That part right there…

I’m still learning.

I am a work in progress.

I’m learning how to reel in what I react to…

what I absorb…

what I hold onto…

and what I need to simply let pass by me.

And honestly?

I’m getting better at it.

Not perfect.

Better.

Sometimes I still process something over and over before I finally let it go 😁

But I am getting closer to controlling my thermostat instead of reacting like a thermometer.

That doesn’t mean becoming cold.

That doesn’t mean silence.

That doesn’t mean not caring.

It means learning how to protect my peace, my energy, my reactions, and my spirit a little better.

Because reacting to everything is exhausting.

Especially when you are observant by nature.

Especially when words matter to you.

Especially when you notice energy, tone, confusion, disrespect, inconsistency, and tension quickly.

Whew.

But I’m realizing something:

Everything does not deserve my emotional temperature.

Now one day… I hope to fully master the art of:

smiling…

humming a little tune 🤣

and moving on.

I really do think this is a good theory to adopt.

So these days I’m reminding myself:

I am a thermostat… not a thermometer.

And honestly?

That mindset feels a whole lot lighter.

Real Talk.

Lady Flava 🌻