Ask The Readers: What Does Faith Have to do With a Dream (if anything)?

Today I step down from the mic… And hand it to you :) .

Dreams and Faith

Some of us feel like we have no choice in the matter – That we have to follow the dream!

Others also feel like they have no choice in the matter – So they don’t follow the dream!

In both cases it’s “beyond the person”.

Some people would disagree with everything above. They would say they have 100 percent control of what happens and they choose to follow their dream.

I want to throw a really wide open question your way.

Is there a relationships between faith and pursuing a dream?

Is it an act of faith to follow a dream?

If there is a relationship, what is it?

If it’s not an act of faith, then can we say “it goes against faith”?

Please feel free to reply to one another’s comments. This is a conversation.

One rule: Be respectful :) .

Gosh darnet! I’m excited to hear your thoughts

  • Shane

    Is there a relationship between faith and pursuing a dream? Absolutely. If you have a dream, faith gives you the clarity to see that dream fulfilled, and therefore you develop the drive to see it come to pass.

    Is it an act of faith to follow a dream? Yes. One can have several dreams but never trust themselves enough to follow them.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Yo Shane! Straight up bringing it man :) . I dig it. Faith can give one clarity. This is a fascinating point. I’m gonna throw the opposite thought your way. Is it possible that faith allows someone to keep pushing when they don’t have clarity. It is their faith that makes them keep going even though they can’t see where they want to go?

      • Shane

        Yes! Before I was talking about faith in the sense that one has a dream and wants to follow it. But there is definitely faith in the sense of pushing, going against the grain, despite not knowing where you’re headed, but knowing that somehow, someway, everything will turn out alright. I’ve experienced both.

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Wow, that is beautiful. It’s a crazy thought – to push and go in a direction that goes “against the grain” yet to have confidence it is for the best. It’s a scary thing to do, but there is amazing power in it. I think you explained faith beautifully in this last comment. You just really excited my brain and heart :) .

          • Shane

            Thanks, Izzy! I’m glad you could understand how I put it. I worry that people don’t get me sometimes, lol.

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            Haha! Well, you need not worry about that here man. I’m 30 years old and I want to be a ninja – I got zero room to judge anyone :) .

          • Shane

            Thanks, Izzy!!

  • http://confidencecues.com/ Rob Leonardo

    Faith translated in my native tongue Tagalog is ‘pananampalataya’ where the last four words roots itself from the meaning- ‘gamble’. It is believing without seeing. Hence, pursuing a dream is only possible if rooted in faith. :)

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Rob that is some crazy awesome stuff! Bringing in your native language to explain the roots of the word faith – straight up awesome bro!

      This bring up a question: So if a pursuing a dream is rooted in faith, does this mean that a person that has no faith cannot pursue a dream?

      • http://twitter.com/KinestheticT Omar Von Gimbel

        In a sense, Izzy.

        From a Christian perspective, “faith without works is dead”. Basically this means that if you have faith in something, you are going to take action based on that faith.

        From a Buddhist perspective, faith is more akin to “confidence”. If we think about it, we aren’t going to take action unless we have some seed of confidence that it can be done. This confidence may be from seeing someone else do it, or from having done something similar or related.

        Sometimes the path we have faith in is letting us down so much that we figure, f-it, and try something different, This is what happened to me. The life I was taught to pursue didn’t work, and left me full-on depressed. My heart was telling me to go explore, and society was telling me I wouldn’t survive without the typical routine.

        It was at that point I was open to try something bold and crazy.

        Now I am wandering around the US on a bicycle visiting Buddhist temples, and building a professional blog out of my experiences. I don’t worry about what I’ll eat, or an income. The crazy thing is, I seem to get all the money I actually need, and I have to watch that I don’t gain weight because food is not scarce at all.

        Omar
        The Kinesthetic Tiger

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Omar this is incredible man. You are bringing in Christianity and Buddhism ( I guess you know that… But it excites me, so I had to say it). With buddhism a person does not attach to a particular outcome, correct?

          But with Christianity a person should not be attached to an outcome but they must have faith that God can give them that outcome they desire. If they don’t believe that God can help them, then it is not faith, correct? (This is from a Christian perspective). I love the line “Faith without works is dead”. Gosh I love that line.

          A while back I read James 2:14 “what good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deed?” It blew my mind and continues to blow it! And no, I don’t have the bible memorized, I had to look that up.

          • http://twitter.com/KinestheticT Omar Von Gimbel

            Nice, that is actually the verse I was quoting (only a slightly different translation).

            I look at it from a slightly different perspective based on the follow-up commentary by James…
            If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

            …and shortly after …
            Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

            Anyways, from a philosophical perspective, The “dead” here is a reference to absolution. Basically it is not faith; it doesn’t exist.

            We can say we have faith in something like “I believe that I can live the life of my dreams”. However, if we continue to work at a dead-end job spending all our time hoping for an opportunity or a big break, then it is a false belief … a dead faith.

            On the other hand, if we say “I can live the life of my dreams”, then we visualize what that life looks like, and actually set out in the direction that will make that happen … Now that is a living faith!

            The Bible describes faith as “the substance of things hoped for”. This substance, in my opinion is confidence.

            Confidence does not necessarily have to be concrete evidence. Wikipedia says this about confidence …
            Confidence is generally described as a state of being certain either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective.

            … and …
            Confidence can be a self-fulfilling prophecy as those without it may fail or not try because they lack it and those with it may succeed because they have it rather than because of an innate ability.

            … and it gets a little deeper …
            It is suggested that the confidence bias can be explained by a noisy conversion of objective evidence (observation) into subjective estimates (judgment), whereas noise is defined as the mixing of memories during the storing (observing/learning) and retrieval process (remembering/judgment).

            This brings me back to the Buddhist emphasis on coupling faith with critical analysis.

            If we have faith that we can live the life of our dreams because we have observed others do so (why blogs like this one is so great, because it demonstrates the possibilities), and used our judgment to see that you have no special privileges over us that allow you to do it … then we have the opportunity to make that faith perfect, or bring it to life, by taking action.

            The faith is created into existence by the action itself. They are symbiotic that way.

            I am traveling from Buddhist sangha (temple/community) to sangha, because I wanted to learn what Buddhism is about. Nothing more complex than that. I believe that if I blog about what I learn, and follow solid professional blogging strategies that I will create a location free income that allows me to continue traveling and discovering more of the world and what it has to offer.

            I did not wait until I had money saved up, or knew every step I would take to reach success on my blog. I had faith in the idea that my needs will somehow be met, and then I took action fulfilling that faith.

            The Bible also says at the end of Matthew 6 …
            Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

            And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?

            I tend to take the stuff in the Bible that most “Christians” take literally as metaphors and philosophy, and take literally what most “Christians” take metaphorically.

            Nonetheless, I haven’t worried about food, clothes, and “health care” at all. And guess what? I found out that they do take care of themselves. Follow your passions with actions, and let the rest fall into place.

            *****I ended up writing more of a guest-post for a response, lol. Perhaps you would let me write you one in the near future. Just so you know, I don’t have any of these committed to memory either. I was just made to go to church growing up, and I guess the paraphrasing stuck. I still have to look them up to quote them.*****

            Omar
            The Kinesthetic Tiger

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            Omar – without a doubt the most epic comment EVER on The 30 Year Old Ninja. And yes, that does include all of my comments as well :) .

            I love how you are intertwining faith with confidence, bringing biblical verses into the conversation, and then showing how it applies to your own life.

            I do think, there is a place for a guest post in the future. How about you send me an email if you want to continue that conversation (izzy@30yearoldninja.com). If you aren’t quite sure yet – then give it time. I think your story is quite unique and the power in it will become more obvious the deeper you get in your journey.

            I also love how you beautifully articulate the relationship between faith and action.

            Thank you – for taking the time of out of your day to write such a great comment. I am sure that numerous people will read that comment and get some major insights from it. It is comments like yours above that make a post like this so valuable to other readers.

            A sincere thank you :) .

    • Suzanne Stormon

      I love this idea of faith as a gamble. I believe that life gives us gifts, sometimes in easy lessons, sometimes in very difficult ones. It takes faith to use these gifts to fashion these lessons into a dream and to overcome the fear that the gamble will bring disaster. I’m just in the process of building this faith and fighting fear. I don’t believe in a personally interested God. My beliefs are more in line with the Taoists and the Buddhists, you create and follow your own path in line with a practice that cooperates with natural reality. (Wow, that’s a bit too abstract, but there it is.)

      • parlOp

        In Buddhism there’s no need to fear of any potential disaster, because there’s none if you aren’t dependent on something. Clinging to a single goal without any rational thinking would not be a desirable thing to do either. For this I like Izzy’s idea of thinking about a “plan B” (in the post about his TEDx talk). The “gamble” should be well-thought (set limits etc.) even if you can never be completely sure of any outcome.

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Woah parlOp! I think you bring up a really great point! There is crazy danger in clinging to one goal – especially when there is no rational thinking involved. That being said, I’ll throw out another side of the coin.

          What if someone is completely focused and committed to achieving a goal? They focus in on this goal day and night. Will that singled minded focus be a good thing or a bad thing? Also, maybe this would be classified as “rational thinking” so it might not work :) – but would be interested in your thoughts. Especially if you are coming at it with a Buddhist perspective.

          • parlOp

            You, the English teacher (or ninja), pose the right question! It’s actually difficult to determine how much you should focus on a single goal, given that it is well thought-out. Clearly, focus is a necessity to the pursuit of any non-trivial dream. While it is easy to criticize these hard-working people you’re describing as narrow-minded, time and energy are limited resources, so one can’t do everything at once. I must admit that Buddhism doesn’t offer tailor-made advice for start-ups or people who want to become a ninja. It just reminds us not to be misled by fear, attachment or anger. I wouldn’t generally have any objection if the single goal someone tries hard to achieve grounds on unbiased, rational thinking. The probability of the desired outcome has no ethical relevance, but the intention for which you’re trying to achieve the goal must always be clear.

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            I think your last sentence is very powerful – “the intention for which you’re trying to achieve the goal must always be clear.” People spend endless years of their life trying to achieve things they don’t actually want. It’s a darn right tragedy! Yes, they have goals, but it’s not really their goals. Rather, it’s their parents, societies, or their friends goals.

            I appreciate the honesty and sincerity in your answer parlOp :) - It’s always nice to have a sophisticated well thought-out conversation that bring up multiple perspectives.

            Thank you for taking the time to add so much to this conversation :) (Not just this comment but all of the comments you gave!).

  • Ross

    To me if you broke down the word faith in the context of pursuing your dreams i think the vehicle it would use is condfidence. Through increase in your confindence in what ever way possible most likely will be from continued mastery in a subject you have passion for. But faith is having the confidence in your self that when things are at its absolute worst you know it wont always be like that becasue you can rely on your self to have the strength to over come. If you go the religious route it may be the confidence you get from having faith in Gods plan for you.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Very interesting point you bring up here Ross. So, if I’m getting this right, you are saying that faith deals with having confidence in ones own abilities to handle any situation.

      I didn’t think about it from this angle when I wrote the question. I dig it.

      So if this is true – that a person with faith has confidence in their own abilities no matter the struggle – the question I have to ponder is: How does one gain this level of confidence (or faith)?

      • Ross

        First , looking back at my op I feel I kind of took the mysticism out of the word faith. I love Robs explanation of the root words and I agree with it completely as believing without seeing. But the confidence in your abilities i speak of to me is the same description. But also not looking at abilities as grand skills but for example financially I am like a roller coaster sometimes spending majority of my savings on some trip or something and usually the average person would have fear or anxiety about the low points but having faith in my abilities to control myself on the little things (i.e walking instead of driving, eating ramen noodles for 60 % of my meals, etc) these are the little things I have just learned through experience. Also the more experience you have in challenging or faith provoking moments the more faith you could have for tougher times in the future. There two cents and a half. Thanks Izzy.

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Oh man! You just brought up an amazing point – “the more experience you have in challenging or faith provoking moments the more faith you could have for tougher times in the future”. Essentially this means that when we are able to use our faith (meant with a very wide open meaning- not necessary religious) to succeed through struggles that strengthens our faith in future situations.

          I love this! It respects the power of experience and also gives respect to the mysticism of faith (as you put it). Beautiful!

      • Sherri

        This was the first thing that came to my mind. Whether it is faith in god or confidence in your self and your abilities, how does one conjure that level of confidence or faith?

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Hi Sherri :) . Ross brought up a really good point below – Having faith in ourself in small situations and seeing those through can create confidence in ourselves to have faith when we face more challenging situations in the future. This is why it is so critical to stretch ourselves with our goals – but at the same time keep it within reason.

          I think a big key is to identify where we have succeeded in our pasts in the midst of struggles when we didn’t know we would be able to make it out. By providing evidence to ourselves (based on our past accomplishments) we prove it that we can do it!

  • Jamie Alexander

    I can’t really speak about it from the religious perspective, but I think it does… BUT,

    I wouldn’t personally call it faith. When you hear people speak and know their stories they will tell you about their struggles and they all have the ability to never give up. They have grit and they stick it out because they know their dream will eventually come true.

    So if you want to call it faith, grit, or just the ability to never give up then do whatever feels comfortable with you. Never give up!

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Hahaha! Very nice Jamie – I like how you took this. Faith is a very wide open word. It has religious connotations but this doesn’t mean it has to be spiritual or religious. It can be as you said “grit” or “never giving up”.

      Essentially this would mean that Faith is about having the focus to stay the path, or keep pushing, no matter the obstacle.

      The reason I like this comment so much is that it opens up the doors to discuss what the word faith even is.

  • http://www.crumbleit.com/ Sean

    When pursuing my dreams, I try hard to avoid faith at all cost. Faith essentially boils down to believing things without evidence. To me, there’s a fine line between “confidence” and “certainty”. Being determined and confident in your ability to overcome adversity has enormous benefits and certainly where evidence lacks, taking a calculated risk and going for it can yield amazing results. Far too many people fail to live out a more amazing life because of their fear of the unknown. But having absolute faith and being certain of something such that you’re blind to new information can be dangerous. I’ve seen entrepreneurs burn through their family’s savings because they simply couldn’t see the path they were on was a failure. Adaptability is an enormously powerful skill to have and in my opinion, faith limits it.

    • parlOp

      I can fully endorse your comment or “redisqus” it if possible. Perhaps I’d just be somehow cautious about the definition of faith, the vagueness of which is the exact origin of the difficulty to talk about this question and postulate any theory about the relationship to dreams. An additional characteristic of faith (in addition to the possible lack of evidence) could be the invariability. As soon as you don’t believe in any fundamental statement of your religion (faith), you can only change your religion (the religion doesn’t change for you). This formal overload of the types of faith we call religion doesn’t, in my opinion, positively contribute to the pursuit of your very personal dream(s). (almost the same conclusion: adaptability shouldn’t be limited by this)

      • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

        Not sure if your a dude or a dudet – but I gotta ask you to rephrase what you just said :) . Your using a lot of big words there, which makes it difficult to understand you main point. This sentence doesn’t translate in my native Californian English ” I’d just be somehow cautious about the definition of faith, the vagueness of which is the exact origin of the difficulty to talk about this question and postulate any theory about the relationship to dreams. ”

        Mind clarifying with a little less verbage :) ?

        • Sean

          Oh oh, let me take a shot at it: “The definition of faith is hella vague and that makes it difficult to discuss in relation to following our dreams”. Sorry. I just haven’t had an opportunity to make a hella joke in a hella long time…

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            Well played… Very well played :) . That is definitely some Californian English that I understand!

          • parlOp

            Thanks :-)

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Okay, this is s a really great comment! You bring up some fantastic points. Tell me if I’m taking this incorrectly – but it sounds like you are saying Faith is important but too much dependence on it, can make someone blind to the destructive path they are heading down.

      This brings up a fascinating concept – that balance between faith and looking at the facts. This is a beautiful point Sean! I think there is a balance that has to be laid down.

      Wow! This was great! Seriously man, you just made my mind explode.

      • http://www.crumbleit.com/ Sean

        To parlOp’s point (and as Sean helped translate), the word “faith” has a bit of a broad meaning. I’m hesitant to use it because I think people like the idea of the word more than they should. I often hear it used as a badge of honor and yet, the definition generally includes some element of believing something without proof. And while I agree there are situations where there is no other option available but to take a leap of faith, this (in my opinion) should never be the goal. Instead, the goal should be to educate oneself to the best of their ability such that the need for these leaps is minimized. I can be driven towards a goal and confident in my pursuit without ever having to turn a blind side to evidence to the contrary.

        In some ways I’m splitting hairs from a definition perspective, but I think the distinction is important. Be determined, be confident, take calculated risks, reach for your dreams, but along the way, never forget the continuous pursuit of truth.

      • http://www.crumbleit.com/ Sean
  • Lisa Stevens

    I just say Hold on Tight to Your Dreams. Let’s go listen to Electric Light Orchestra say it from back in the day! Songs like this help me keep the faith. http://youtu.be/8TLmpL2AzLs

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Haha! That is awesome. That is some straight up 80′s music right there :) . One of the best parts of growing up with sisters that were teenagers during the 80′s is they exposed me to all the 80s hits :) . I was born in 1982, but I was so young that I otherwise wouldn’t have known a lot of the 80′s greats.

  • Sean

    Confidence in oneself & trust in others – these are the things that empower us to act, build relationships & collaborations, and pursue dreams (be it our own, or that of others). It’s something we all do every day without any thought of faith.

    No. I don’t think faith is part of it.
    I suppose that means I’d be supporting your third category.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      A very different perspective Sean. So you are saying that it is our trust in others and those relationships with others that allow us to have the confidence to step forward. This begs the question: Is it our faith in these relationships that allow us to step forward with our dreams?

      This would be faith but in a very different context – not in the religious sense. I’m not debating you by any standard, so please don’t take it that way. Rather I’m throwing out a question that comes to my mind when you say this :) .

      • Sean

        An interesting angle, Izzy.

        I think that confidence is a product of our knowledge, experience, relationships, and actions. It’s something that everyone has an abundance of and can serve as the foundation for stepping forward to pursue our dreams.

        As to the faith and trust in others… yes, I agree. Though perhaps this has more to do with supporting others in following their own dreams?

        • parlOp

          I agree that trust in yourself and others you’re working with is required to achieve almost anything in the society. Though you shouldn’t believe anything/anyone blindly, therefore going without trying new things or connecting with new people you don’t have experiences with so far would greatly limit your possibility. Trying to become a ninja in the 21st Century is a good example you can’t get enough information about. How does one know (s)he has done enough research to be confident?

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            Some great questions parlOp :) – which I guess would naturally bring it back to the forefront of the conversation – When we do our research, and look into everything we can at some point we have to just take the leap. We have to trust that it will “somehow” work. Can that “somehow” be classified as faith?

            We never can be truly certain until the event has already passed. Correct?

          • Sean

            Can’t truly be certain of the outcome ahead of time – unless it’s an experiment that’s already been done several times. Research can help us know where we’re starting from and to make informed decisions. But at some point, yes, we have to put the books down and just start.

            Whether it’s confidence in oneself, trust in others, or even blind faith… it doesn’t matter so long as the first step is taken. Not everyone draws strength from the same thing. So whatever empowers you to pursue a goal – use it!

            Fun example time: I can’t drive from San Diego to New York by doing research. At some point I have to tell my brain to shut up, then physically get in the car and hit the gas. Knowing that heading west is likely to send me sailing off a coastal cliff into the ocean is valuable. Being confident that my car won’t explode in the middle of an Arizona desert leaving me a charred husk would also be nice. But honestly… how much more would I need to know? Ok, that one was rhetorical. But honestly… half the fun in doing something is learning and experiencing along the way. So just get started – it’s surprising how far momentum can carry us toward a goal.

          • parlOp

            That’s a good functional definition of faith! The nature of faith is different for each person (therefore an analytical definition difficult), but maybe its role is always the same: enabling action without the full clarity on the basis of information. Full understanding of anything in the real world is impossible because everything has infinite aspects, so of course the outcome of your action can’t be predicted with full certainty. You can gain some confidence based on your experience, but it doesn’t guarantee the same success in the future. Faith doesn’t provide you with additional information, but, yes, if classified at the level of action, the meaning of faith becomes a bit more plausible.

        • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

          Ahhh :) . I like this! Very well put. I really like how you explained the portion about how we gain confidence. In particular how you pointed out that we all have this in abundance. I’m going to have to use this exact line with some people I work with.

          Also, I like how you were able to connect faith with believing in the ability that others have – Am I wrong to make that jump?

          Sean, thanks for adding so much to the conversation. Your points are very well thought out and articulated in an excellent manner. It adds so much power to the conversation! Plus, I love how it makes me think :) .

          • Sean

            Hi Izzy. Trust and faith are both are very much grounded in an extroverted choice to believe in… something/someone. So that leap to connect faith with believing in the ability that others have isn’t wrong. I like that perspective. Though I would still maintain that it’s always our own choice to do so. And that would still leave me in the third category. :)

  • http://www.vishnusvirtues.com/ Vishnu

    Izzy – I think we all have a choice to take a leap of faith and follow our dream or stay in bed.

    Faith in our dream requires us to pursue something that we don’t know will pan out or not. I’m not sure if I have faith in my dreams as much as faith in the journey to my dreams. I go forward not knowing where I may be going but knowing that I’ll get somewhere but hoping that somewhere is not a dojo in Japan with many ninjas.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Viiissshhhnnnuuuu! That was me getting really excited about your comment and visualizing us doing a jumping chest bump :) .

      This is a really interesting point! You have faith in the process, more than the actual outcome. Gosh darnet, that’s freaking insightful!