Wait For It
Jul 24, 2023
This phrase came to me as a magically healing affirmation recently; and at the same time as it provided me relief from some impatience and anxiety I was experiencing, I also realized how trivially the words are commonly used these days. I usually only hear this phrase when watching YouTube with my kids and someone blurps it out before the climactic event in a video that makes us laugh or feel mesmerized by one thing or another.
In writing this post, my goal is that we consider taking the virtue of patience a lot more seriously, by understanding the significant negative ramifications of being impatient; and by realizing the profound reasons why we need patience, and the incredible benefits patience brings to our lives – it’s essential for manifesting our greatest hopes and dreams.
What is fascinating to me is what happens in our body when we feel impatient; when we insist on trying to push events along more quickly than they are meant to occur. What happens in the body centers around our liver and the Wood Element. Understanding the metaphor I share below will help you to utilize your mind and body to shift from an attitude of irritability and frustration to one of patience and tolerance.
Picture your liver as a tree, planted in the right side of your abdomen around the level of your solar plexus. When you’re trying to control something, or insist that some process plays out faster than it’s meant to, the branches of this tree span upwards in all directions. This causes too much energy to rise into your chest, constricting your heart and causing anxiety; and it pushes angry thoughts up into your head and causes frustration and headaches (not to mention neck and shoulder pain). Furthermore, with all of your energy moving upwards, attention is taken away from the roots of the tree, which should be focused on gathering nourishment from the Water Element in your kidneys.
This tree I am using as a metaphor also symbolizes the mechanism within you that brings your goals and aspirations into being. During the Winter (related to the kidneys and the Water Element), your attention naturally moves within, and you create the seeds that contain the visions of what you wish to produce in the coming seasons of Spring and Summer. In the Spring, the Wood Element is responsible for growing these seeds to fruition – it is a time of caring and nourishment which requires patience, kindness, and attention.
Spring is the essential period that we must learn to wait for it. Focus on maintaining your roots in the Water Element for regular nourishment; and using the Metal Element to prune away the branches that are growing out of control and stealing energy from the branches that will bear the greatest fruit. Remember the vision within the seeds you’ve planted and have faith that not rushing things is the best way to ensure that you will have a bountiful harvest.
You can care for this tree by focusing on your body. Simply bring your attention regularly to your lower abdomen and lower back, around the area of your kidneys. After a short time, you’ll find that your breathing settles into your lower abdomen, which relieves the tension in your chest, the excess heat and thought in your head, and the pain in your neck and shoulders. Take some time to breathe and visualize the roots of your tree drawing in the nourishing water from your kidneys. Relax your shoulders and chest; let go of your thoughts and anxiety and trust the natural process of creation – stop trying to control things, and just wait for it.