Thermometer or Thermostat?

This week I watched Julie and Julia and the movie inspired me to cook some off the wall recipes.  I've been sticking with just bland salmon, chicken, potatoes, rice and veggies, but this week I gave our food a makeover.  Because I'm incredibly paranoid about raw chicken, I had to break out the thermometer for the chicken one night.  That thermometer did a great job of telling me the temperature, but I couldn't tell the thermometer to hurry up and get make the chicken warmer because I was hungry.  It wouldn't have cared.  All it knew how to do was to tell me what the temperature currently was.  

While the little thermometer sat in the chicken waiting for it to reach the correct temperature, there was a war going on in the other room.  A war of the thermostat.  DAH DAH DUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

It has been hotter than a wool sweater in July down here and we've had to turn the air conditioning on.   Now, coach likes for it to be Artic in the house at all times.  I however, prefer to have feeling in my toes.... and to use my paycheck on something a lot more fun than an electric bill.  So we've been having quite a battle.  He turns down.......... I get cold and turn it up...........he gets hot and turns it down.  And the poor A/C unit is begging us to please just decide on one temperature.  I admit, the war is getting old.  But, I'm glad that we are willing to get up and do something about it... even if it is just because we are both stubborn! 

Why am I talking about these two things?  Both of these devices have something to do with temperature.  As I said, the thermometer just tells us what temperature it is.  A thermostat though, helps to change the temperature in the room.  Alright, here comes the deep stuff.  Think about it.

We've all known some thermostats in our lives.  There is that person that always seems to bring a brightness or calmness to the room when they enter.  And then there are those ones who have had bad days or are in a bad mood and when they walks into the room, everyone knows JUST how bad their day really is/has been.  

Do you set the climate for the world you live in, or do you simply adjust to the climate of the world?  Are you influencing others or being influenced by others?  Are you complaining about the state of the world or campaigning to make changes?  Are you a thermostat or a thermometer????