Gratitude Post - February 22, 2023

I'm grateful for liveable temperatures!

With me living in Canada, my idea of liveable temperature may be drastically different from yours - I mean, put on a few layers and -40 really isn't that bad.  Really, I'm grateful for the fact that the temperature in a room/building can be controlled such that we aren't too hot or too cold, but end up being just right.

But where's the reversed expectation in a temperature?  The reversed expectation is in context.  A house that's at the standard room temperature is, by most accounts, a wonderful liveable temperature.  But context plays a huge role in that.  Coming into this same house when I've spent time outside on a freezing cold day, and suddenly that 'room temperature' is going to feel quite warm.  Conversely, if I've been outside for a walk on a boiling hot summer day that same 'room temperature' is going to feel quite chilly.  Out bodies are so quick to accommodate the state we find ourselves in, trying to compensate for the extremes (like sweating when it's hot), that making a change to that state can make things feel a little off.

However, even considering this contextual impact on how a temperature feels, I'm grateful for it.  It emphasizes that our bodies are doing their jobs, that they're acclimating as required to facilitate as much comfort as possible.  And though the abrupt change from outside to inside can be frustrating from time to time, it's not something that I'd want to stop because if it did that would likely mean I'm going to be even more uncomfortable in the extremes that I am currently!