Here in the states we have begun to experience the time of the year that follows winter: Road Work Season. This means detour signs will be aplenty and our regular routes may be upended. The common use of the detour sign inclines me to think: inconvenience. However, after a recent trip across the pond, I am reminded that other words – with the same purpose – strike me differently. Perhaps this is just the Anglophile in me projecting, but I like the English use of Diversion. What is a diversion, but a detour? Yet to me, diversion suggests an opening for opportunity.
Life, like our worn winter roads, are often in need of repair. It can be difficult to dedicate the time to attend to this aspect of our human infrastructure, but without question it is very necessary. How might you take your diversion? Perhaps it means diverting your usual drive home to fix dinner and catch the latest episode of some show with a stop by the gym or a walk in the city park. Perhaps you stop in your day to make time to see a friend, or you just stop and breath in the fresh air instead of mindlessly moving from one place to another.
Diversions fire up the neurons and make us pay attention. Sometimes those diversions are unwelcome. They cause discomfort or true pain. Other diversions introduce us to paths we might not have known existed and offer unexpected joy.
We all wish for ourselves and others to find the unexpected joys on the diverted path and it would be easy to quip that even on the most difficult of turns in life, joy can be found. But through experience, I understand this is not the truth. My truth lies in seeing that I can often prevail unplanned diversions if I proceed with an open heart and open mind. Maybe this does not hold true in every minute or at every diversion, but it happens enough to keep me going forward.
As the summer unfolds, and the road crews flag you to change your expected path, take in a breath and open your eyes. Maybe, even for a moment, you may see something that eases the discomfort and offers you another way to traverse the roads of your life.
3 comments
Jenni says:
June 7, 2017 at 1:31 am (UTC -5 )
Thank you, Ann.. a positive and hopeful way to see diversions or distractions. Hugs and grace.
jeri rowe says:
June 7, 2017 at 5:30 am (UTC -5 )
Nice. The joy of being present. Thanks for the reminder, Annie Fitz.
John says:
June 13, 2017 at 9:45 pm (UTC -5 )
Love this.
Yes, the open heart can find joy as one travels through life’s diversions. I purposefully, move down the path of diversion open to joy, beauty, growth.