Diversion

 

This morning I was looking at my One Little Word project and was reading the thesaurus for my word.  As you know, my word is Joy. 

Still, did you know that one of it’s synonyms is diversion? 

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I am terrible at diversion.  I focus.  I focus to the extent that I get tunnel vision and can’t see clearly.  I hone in on things for far too long.

I always admired the parents that used diversion to get their kids to stop having a tantrum or to do what they wanted.  I never did it well.  I always point out what they are doing wrong and talk about it with the hope that it won’t happen again.

Wrong!

And 9 out of 10 times whatever I want them to stop doing isn’t a big deal until they won’t stop.  They have tunnel vision.  They are focused on what they are doing.

I just find it so interesting that diversion is an synonym for joy.  But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.  If I used diversion for myself and for my kids, we would have a lot more joy.  I wouldn’t always be focusing on what needs to change, because focusing on it isn’t necessarily changing it.  In fact quit the opposite; it is probably happening more. 

An occasional diversion might be exactly what we need to bring more joy.