What's your -tion?

From the World English Dictionary


-tion : a suffix forming nouns indicating state, condition, action, process, or result

So what's your -tion?

I recently had the opportunity to go to an event called "What Really Matters: Conversations Among Women". It was a day long event, with women from all walks of life discussing a wide range of topics pertaining to our personal growth and development - saying 'no' (or yes), turning your inner critic into inner worth to name just a couple. I didn't know anyone there, except for my friend Shell who was a speaker and I knew she'd be busy. She kindly introduced me to a couple of women she knew and then I was on my own.  With strangers. Alone. At a place I'd not been to before. At a table where people could walk behind me. Yes, pretty much my own personal 7th circle of panic. Why would I put myself in this situaTION?

In the moment it was because the topic appealed to me as did the venue. In the days since, however, I've had the opportunity to reflect on the things learned and come to some conclusions. First and foremost I've realized that I am a woman of percepTION. Because of some social anxiety/panic issues I tend to like to sit back and observe and draw conclusions based on observaTION and percepTION. This way has served me well and I tend to trust my intuiTION. But after stretching myself and sitting through the whole day in that 7th circle of panic I realized that there are other -tions that I could be learning from.

In evaluating that day I realized that more than the content, which was good, I learned that I can learn different things from participaTION, from actively being a part of an experience. If I had followed my usual suit, I honestly never would have gone to an event like that. Too many variables and things out of my comfort zone. But the stars aligned and because of the content and my love for my friend (and my trust in her) I ventured forth. And I survived. I realize now that I also need to be a woman of acTION. I need to take some risks and not hide from things and situaTIONs that might cause me panic. I need to allow people in and trust that they'll have my back and help me through the hard times. And I need to remember that as much as I can learn from sitting back and watching others experience things, my percepTION can change when I actually take the time to experience it for myselves.

It's tempting at different stages of our lives to let life pass you by. But life has so much to offer and we have so much to learn. It's part of our own personal evoluTION.

So, I ask you again. What's your -tion? What's an area of your life that needs to be put into acTION? EducaTION? CelebraTION? ParticipaTION? CommunicaTION? PreparaTION? There are many more -tions that I need to work on and that I'm sure will be the subject of much pontificaTION here. (couldn't resist throwing in one more.)

If you actually managed to read this - drop me a note or leave a comment. I love learning from my freinds and growing alongside of each of you.

Until next time.