Waiting for the Water to Settle

the dilemma of waiting for clarity

In last month’s newslettler, we discussed how the season of autumn ushers in change and sometimes uncomfortable, but necessary upheaval.  Those ‘winds of change’ often bring up issues or situations to examine, decisions to ponder and opportunities for new direction.  And speaking from an Ayurvedic perspective, in this season of Vata, these circumstances can bring up fear, anxiety and nervous uncertainty that can be potentially derailing.

In our do-now, have-now, get-it-done world, waiting patiently isn’t exactly encouraged, while speed, confidence, and having the right answers are rewarded.  So what incentive do we have to live comfortably in the uncertainty?  Is it OK not to know?

In his book, “The Exquisite Risk: Daring to Live an Authentic Life”, Mark Nepo writes:

With each circumstance or confusing situation, things appear muddy and stirred.  So, we can act with urgency, guessing what’s underneath all the agitation, or we can dare to wait until the water clears, until we can see what’s at the bottom of it all.  Of course, the press to respond prematurely is hugely distracting, and it often gets the better of us…

Waiting for situations to clear is a perennial challenge.  Written 2,600 years ago, the ancient Tao asks: “Can you wait till the waters of your mind settle?” Frustrating as it is, human beings have always had to wait for things to become clear, and even then, the clarity is all too fleeting.  But authenticity takes time to rise in our blood.  Beauty takes time for us to fully see.  It always takes longer to hear with the heart, but the song heard there is lasting and precious.

There are reasons behind the recommendation to find a calm, grounding rhythm over the next few months.  We are invited to move inward, more deeply into ourselves and to spend time in silence, finding the patience to let the water settle, for clarity to emerge.  This is a process that can not be forced.  But as Nepo says, it is a process worth waiting for – if we have the courage to be authentic and wait in a state of present observation, in a state of patient listening, only then may we honor the whisper of our soul’s highest knowing.