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, and now we shift gears into gateway 5, which is all about 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 to things that go on around us – time.

 

One key to this whole thing 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. It’s all about being in the rhythm, in the flow of life. 

 

All of us know times 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. 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 things? 

 

 

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 Fifth gateway is all about connecting into that schedule.

 

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

 

First Line: Attune

The first line always provides the foundational meaning of the hexagram. And here the foundational meaning for the first line is “Attune: 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. 

 

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 exhausted.

 

So, the first line here is all about attuning to one’s 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 can be 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 within that, the second line finds tranquility, watchfully, waiting for its own right timing regardless of anybody else.

 

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.

 

This whole thing is about finding that tranquility. Where’s the tranquility? The tranquility exists in being in your own pace, involving yourself in things that really relate you. And of course, you’re always going to want to look at your Type and Authority in the Human Design System to find out which are the things that really call to you, and which need to be bypassed.

 

Third Line: Learning to Wait

The third line always has this touch and go approach. Do I get involved or not? Is this something that really calls to me or not? There’s a nervousness that can come into play here, a potential to become anxious when it seems like 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 tend 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. Is it working or not? Is the timing right or not? 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 I 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” and it’s about finding the patience that leaves you open to worthwhile opportunities. A lot of us will have found in life that we’ve made a split decision about something. We’ve jumped the gun on it, 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, and 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 according for 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 that always that potential with a fifth line, that potential of pushing against the envelope, pushing beyond, going out of balance. And this is often the result of going according to 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. 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 that quandary: do I get involved or not? You can see what could be done, so do you act, or do you back away from it and just let the universe work it out. 

 

This is not about avoiding things in life, it’s about recognizing there is always a universal order and 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. 

What’s being said here is that 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 with it. 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 timing, because life just opens up a cornucopia of possibilities and potentials for us to find that 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 the Human Design System and discover how your own Design informs and shapes your life, get your Free Human Design Report today.