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The audiobook, How to Get What You Really, Really, Really, Really Want, features a recorded lecture by Dr. Wayne D. Dyer and Deepak Chopra. During their conversation, Dyer talks about figures he calls Scurvy Elephants (i.e., Disturbing Elements), which are essentially the same thing as Beyonders, or people who are very high achieving and divergent (i.e., creative) in their thinking. 

Dyer encourages us to be willing to be Scurvy Elephants (or, in reality, a Disturbing Element), by which he means to resist conforming to the status quo at our own expense. I think in order to have faith in this day and age, we also have to be willing to go beyond the norms of current culture and embrace being considered odd or unsettling in the name of being happy. So many people are miserable these days. It seems to be a common practice, and if we walk around content and full of faith, it is bound to rub more than one person the wrong way. 

Beyonders were defined by the work of E. Paul Torrance, who was a researcher and scholar in creativity. He identified common traits that creative achievers have, which I think Dyer and Chopra probably both represent and agree with as a means to step further into having faith. They are:

1. encourage deep thinking 

2. take risks and learn from mistakes 

3. enjoy your work and do it well

4. be comfortable as a “minority of one”

5. specialize 

6. have a sense of mission 

There is a comprehensive breakdown of what each component is here, so I need not replicate it for you in my own writing, but I do think items 4, 5, and 6 beg for exploration in the context of faith. 

Having faith, especially our own version that is tailor-made for our experience, requires a bit of individualism. Being comfortable as a “minority of one” is often difficult for the faithless. Nothing breeds unhealthy dependence on others like a complete lack of faith in Good (or God). It’s hard to go it alone without faith, in my opinion, and trauma is often all about the invalidation of self, the troubles of others, and is a rich breeding ground for an external locus of control. Faith has helped me become a more independent person, to have the strength and temerity to specialize despite additional hardship and risk, and have a sense of purpose in life. Not all of us can be Beyonders, but it seems the qualities listed above are a useful framework for living a fulfilled life. 

In the book, Flow, Mihaly Cszikszentmihalyi outlines his research on the state of optimal experience (i.e., flow)  and it captures a very similar set of rules to live by as those outlined by E. Paul Torrance as a Beyonder.  I always love when more than one thought or belief system (i.e., religions of all kinds) basically draw the same conclusions somewhat independent of each other. The fact that humanity encounters spiritual principles in entirely different ways is only proof of the real thing, in my humble opinion.

Now, I’m not suggesting anyone attempting to have faith also needs to be a creative high-achiever, but I do think we all have to hit a point where we are willing to live beyond the confines of the norms of the day. Right now, the messaging of the media is almost all negative, meant to keep us anxious and captivate our attention, regardless of the ills it exacts on society and regardless of whether it is true or not. Look around at any local community, and there are many, many, many people doing good for others in abundance. 

It takes a strong will and a commitment to believe in Good these days. It takes a willingness to be perceived as different and embrace a different set of beliefs to have faith in God (or Good). So many people seem committed to negativity in their talk, their choices, their actions. I encourage anyone reading this content to experiment with another path, one where things do work out in your favor. Where life does get better. Where we can fantasize about having the best in life and we allow ourselves to focus on ways to achieve it. 

Maybe we all have to be Beyonders or Disturbing Elements, at least a little bit, in order to have faith. It’s okay to have enough faith in Good (or God) that we reach a place where others are unsettled by our contentment. They may be so unsettled that they ask us about it, and we may even have the strength to be real about choosing to have faith in a faithless world. Perhaps that will inspire others to do the same, and we can build a better message together.

That is my hope for all of us, dear reader.