What is faith ?

I am exploring this aspect of my life which i had ignored for years together. I used to come from a school of thought that 'Everything in life is in my hands and I can make it happen '.This thought in life has made me run ,run and run very hard in life so much so that with relationships as well I run hard. Never created a space for myself in life at all. Now , I have made a choice to have faith in the power of the universe to make it happen for me. It's a struggle a real BIG struggle as it means for me to stop running and wait for things to happen in my life . For a person who has always been running ,waiting and that too indecively is a struggle . I want to go through this struggling experience in life now. I have started having faith in all places where collective faiths recide and i can see the power in that. At inorbit mall I saw post its of people wishing wishing and wishing and there near those post it's i could feel faith of so many people . My faith is still fragile , it tends to break at the slightest of resistance .I understand that i can't put it back together . It is fresh beginning everytime my faith breaks. I thinks faith becomes stronger as the number of instances breaking it increase and number of times it gets recreated.

'Riyaaz' done by Software Professionals

It has recently dawned on me that I am a 'Software Professional'. The later word 'Professional' is what hovering over my head now . When I see and read about other professions like sportsman , actor ,singer ,dancer I see myself not so like them. The common things among these professionals is 'riyaaz'( practice).They are not dependent on their sponsors for giving them practise ...telling them where they need to improve..It's a constant inward journey they keep doing to be excellent professionals.... For that matter a doctor practises ,so does a lawyer ....but do I as a software professional practise anything ?

So the next question is if the software professional is supposed to do riyaaz in order to be called a professional then what do I practise ? For the first time in my life I am trying to learn to pick a new technology from scratch ..no class room sessions ,no hands on training .... I am learning it on my own with a little guidance from my mentor in life..... ohh boy what an effort it is !!!

What are the other 'riyaaz' do excellent software professionals do ? May be gather knowledge through magazines.... keep a track of Role Models in the industry....If you have come across some true professionals in your life who genuinely practise then please enlighten me so that I can pick up some tips and tricks ....here and there.....