How do we learn patience? With all the pressures and demands of life, how do we remain calm and learn to trust in the Universal timing of life? The answers are in the Human Design System

Last week, we explored Hexagram 9, which showed us how to take life’s details as they come while reflecting on the beauty and wonder of the incredible gift we’ve all been given. Now, we shift gears into Gateway 5, the Gateway we call, “Waiting.” Like so many things in life, it has to do with timing. Part of the deal of being in the spacetime continuum on planet Earth is that we’re subject to two things: where we are – space; and the timing of things that go on around us – time.

One of the keys to this whole game of life is to be in the right place at the right time, and to accept all that comes with being where and when you are; to see that wherever you are is where you need to be. This is how you stay in the rhythm, the flow of life. 

All of us have had moments in our lives when we’ve been completely out of time. We’ve missed the train, we’ve missed the boat, we’ve been late to the party, or we’ve come to realize that life is racing past us and we’re not in tune with what’s going on.

In the 5th Gateway, we get to see that this is common to all life forms, from humans and other mammals, to fish, reptiles and birds, to plants, to insects and even microorganisms. Everything is dependent upon particular rhythms and timings. Everyone and everything is interconnected here. So, we’re going to move out of a sense of what the clock is telling us and into a sense of universal timing. What is the Universe wanting for us? What is going on in the larger playbook of life? What is Nature’s timing?

We could say it’s the Gateway of the gardener, the farmer, the fisherman, somebody who has to be in touch with the seasons. Because the universe runs on its own very particular schedule, and this 5th Gateway connects us into that schedule.

Let’s see how this plays out in the Human Design System line by line:

First Line: Attuning

The first line always provides the foundational meaning of the Hexagram. And here the foundation of waiting is to look within. That’s why this first line is called, “Attuning: persistently paying attention to your own inner timing.” 

Life is full of distractions that can pull you away from your inherently natural timing. And for anyone that’s got this in their chart, you’ll know you have your own scheme of events, and other people can interrupt that. They can take you out of your own natural timing, and all the sudden things get lost or forgotten or left out in the shuffle. 

Failing to honor your own timing and giving in to imposed demands brings exhaustion. if you move out of your own rhythm, you move out of the universal timing, and sooner or later you are dispensing your energy into things that really don’t relate to you, so you get caught up in the diversions and find yourself worn out.

So, the first line here is calling us to attune to our own inherent natural timing, Everything in its right season, everything in its right moment. It’s a call to consistently and persistently pay attention to your own rhythm and be aware of when you’re operating on someone else’s clock.

Second Line: Tranquility

Of all the lines, the second line is the most natural. It doesn’t necessarily know what it’s getting involved in, or why certain things are important, but it’s coming at things from its own natural rhythm. And here, the second line is called, “Finding Tranquility: Watchfully waiting for your own right timing.”

All actions have an appropriate timing, and you are either comfortable with waiting or not. We all feel the pull of obligation and expectation in life. We all expect things to happen in certain ways at certain times, and we even know how we are expected to feel about them. There are so many pressures and distractions put on us. But, when you’re in a state of tranquility and you are operating according to your own natural timing with things, you’ll always arrive in the right place at the right time.

So, how do we go about finding that tranquility? Where’s the tranquility? The tranquility exists in going at your own pace, involving yourself in things that really relate to you. And of course, when it comes to the Human Design System, you’re always going to want to look at your Type and Authority to find the things that really call to you, and the things that are better left alone.

Third Line: Learning to Wait

The third line always has a touch and go approach. Do I get involved or not? Is this something that really calls to me or not? That’s why the line is called, “Being Nervous: The potential to become anxious when it seems nothing is happening.” It’s a nervousness that says, “will I, won’t I?” “Are we gonna go for it or not?”

The act of waiting has an implied helplessness that can prompt you to act without clear direction. You have a tendency to go against your inner timing, the natural sequence of events. All of us have this potential pressure to jump the gun on things or to just feel completely nervous about whether or not what we’re doing is working, if we’re doing the right thing with the right timing. And the third line epitomizes these concerns. 

So again, we come back into our Type and Authority and just see where we are in this particular situation, in this moment. Do we really need to be so nervous about this? And then we calm down. We take a deep breath, we get back into our own rhythm, and sure enough, everything works out.

Fourth Line: Biding Time

The fourth line always has this potential to influence others. A lot of people will look to the fourth line and ask for input. They want to know if you can see what it is that’s really going on here. What’s the timing like? Are we in the right season here? 

The fourth line here is called “Biding time: Patience that leaves you open to find worthwhile opportunities.” A lot of us have mad split decisions about something at some point. We’ve been impetuous, we were not patient, and all the sudden we realize, “oh my goodness, if I’d just waited five minutes longer, or another day or so, I’d have found a much better arrangement.”

The key of the fourth line is in watching the prevailing conditions and weighing your options until opportunities appear. And you do this by trusting your own Type and Authority to find out when to get involved and when to leave it alone. 

So “biding time” in this case does not mean simply sitting around and waiting for something to fall into your lap. It requires a degree of focus. The fourth line has to recognize that the whole thing about waiting is being patient but alert at the same time, while looking for that opportunity to respond. 

Fifth Line: Inner Balancing

The fifth line has this potential to give guidance, to give leadership in this arena of timing. And here the fifth line is always asking itself, “am I in accord with my own natural timing? Or am I subject to everybody else’s input, pressures, ideas and expectations?” That’s why the fifth line is called “Inner balancing: innocent acceptance of life’s rhythm is a vital quality of being.”

Life has its own timing, but the fifth line can second-guess and say, “well, maybe I could do this, maybe I could do that instead.” And in the end, there’s always a potential for frustration. “It could have worked out better. I could have done it differently. I felt pressured and I forced things instead of going with life’s natural rhythm.”

Seeing what life has to offer can be a delight, but if you insist that life should offer more, it can be a challenge. And there’s always that potential with a fifth line, that potential of pushing the envelope, pushing beyond, getting out of balance. And this is often the result of acting according to the expectations that you pick up from other people around you.

When you do this, you may overlook finding joy in simple things, and instead adopt demands for change. You end up demanding that life should be giving you something different and going against the natural rhythm of things. But ultimately, we’re looking to have fulfillment and satisfaction in this lifetime, and the more we align with the timing of the universe, the easier it is for us to be able to find that and realize it.

Sixth Line: Releasing

The sixth line is called “Releasing: letting go of any pressure involved in waiting by trusting universal order.” Sixth lines are always in this place where they can rearrange things for other people. They get the overview of how things can be rearranged, made better, made easier. But then there’s always this quandary: You can see what can be done, so do you act, or do you back away from it and just let the universe work it out?

This is not an excuse to avoid things in life; it’s just a recognition that there is always a universal order. The more you respond to the situation rather than react to it, the more that order is going to be preserved, and the more the expansion of consciousness will take place. Honoring natural rhythms enables your readiness for response, and the response brings out our intelligence. 

There is the potential to get dragged into other people’s timeframes, other people’s considerations of things, rather than allowing ourselves to get into the natural rhythm of life. And let’s face it, we’re not here to live somebody else’s life. We have to find our own connection with life. That’s what we’re here for. 

And that’s the bottom line: We’re all here to find this universal timing in our own sweet way. And when we do, we know immediately that we’ve found it, that we’re in the flow, because life just opens up a cornucopia of possibilities and potentials for us to find fulfillment, and our great sense of realization about life.

So, there we are, that’s the 5th Gateway in the Human Design System. We’ll check in again soon. In the meantime, if you’d like to learn more about Human Design and discover how your own Design informs and shapes your life, get your Free Human Design Report today.