Can you take the heat?

The UK has just enjoyed its hottest weekend this year so far, in a year when most businesses have also taken more heat than ever. A heatwave in the UK, along with any rare event or unexpected change isn’t always easy to adapt to or deal with. But I think we have two choices on how to deal with unsettling, dramatic or unexpected change… as a thermometer, or as a thermostat…

This weekend, our thermometers have faithfully reported record-breaking temperatures of more than 36 degrees Celsius in Southern England. They reliably deliver a fact, that merely confirms what we already know; it’s hot! They don’t do anything about it, and they don’t make us feel any better about it. In fact, telling us it’s 36C, as we sit in rush-hour traffic, or struggle to stay cool and hydrated, is sometimes more annoying than helpful. 

I for one, love the sun, and the heat, but I find a thermostat much more helpful than a thermometer. A thermostat will observe the current temperature, compare it to your personal target, and adapt the immediate environment to suit your needs. I’m too hot, so I turn down the thermostat, and this remarkable friend cools my room and calms my mood. Later in the year when it turns colder, I’ll turn up the thermostat, which will trigger the heating to burst into action, thereby making my home warm and cosy again.

My thermostat never fails to make me feel better. Cooling me when I’m too hot and warming me when I’m feeling chilly. It’s dependable, predictable, and always helpful. 

Compared to his friend, the thermometer, who reliably and repeatedly states the obvious, but does nothing productive to help, the trusty thermostat listens, adapts and always acts in a predictable and superbly helpful manner.

The thermostat makes everyone in the room feel better. Do you? 

Or are you more like a thermometer, helping no-one by restating the obvious, with no positive help or action?