I’ve been thinking a lot lately about being cool. Something that makes our language so difficult for non-native English speakers to master is that we have so many words that can have different meanings. For example, master can refer to proficiency or position. When I noted that I had been thinking about being cool, I am certain that different readers conjured up different ideas of my meaning. Some of you probably thought I was thinking about being hip, or “with it”. People use lots of different words or expressions for this kind of “cool” (rad, bad, chill, wicked, sick) most of which are kind of meaningless to this old not very cool guy. In my work with young people I sometimes say; “the coolest thing about me is that I know I am not, and I am ok with that fact”.

Actually, I have not been thinking about that kind of cool anyway. I’ve been thinking about the kind of cool related to temperature, and how nice it is to “be cool” when the weather starts edging up into the 90’s the way it has across southeast Tennessee lately. I have been thinking about this a lot because the Air Conditioner in our home died last week. Coming home in the afternoon to find the temperature hovering at 85 in your domicile is a great way to start you thinking about being cool. No hard feelings toward the old A/C unit. It did its job pretty well for nearly 20 years.

I noticed something kind of interesting as the old A/C unit breathed its last breath of cool air into our home. The thermometer continued to function perfectly. It noticed and reported accurately that the temperature in the room was rising, continually giving updates as to just how hot the house was getting. Although I could tell we were having a problem and really did not need anything or anyone to tell me room the temperature was rising, this thermometer continued flashing up higher and higher numbers. What we needed was not a thermometer to tell us we had a problem, we needed a working thermostat to do something about the problem.

This got me thinking about how some people are like thermometers; they are eager to point out problems, but not willing or able to do anything about the problem. Other people are more like thermostats. These are the people I really enjoy being around. When they sense a problem, they immediately spring into action to initiate a change to solve the problem. I know there are times when I am more like a thermometer, just pointing out problems, but not offering a solution. What I want is to be more like a thermostat. I want to be like some friends of mine who do not just notice and report “the temp is rising”, they take the next step and like a good thermostat, they take action to “regulate the temperature”, not just with words but with actions. How about you? Are you a thermometer, or a thermostat? Stay cool y’all.