by Sunshine Ross

Created on: June 24, 2010   Last Updated: June 26, 2010

Inner strength comes from understanding your world and knowing that you can, and how you can navigate through it. Often times we feel confused, depressed, scared and conflicted because our understanding or how the world works, how the world "should" work, does not match with what is happening in our lives. We start to feel helpless, sometimes even angry. From a correct understanding of the world and acting in a way that is creative rather than reactive, we start to feel empowered and feel inner strength and confidence.

How Do We Understand the World.

Maybe your world view comes from what your parents taught you, or what society, your culture and law dictates. Maybe you go by your instincts or maybe you go by what you feel is good. Whether you believe in God handing out blessings and punishments or you believe in the principles of karma, whatever you believe, in order to develop inner strength, you need to step back and take an intelligent and impartial look at your world view.

Test your views of the world irrespective of society, upbringing, culture or instincts. Does how you see the world and interact with the world function well in your practical experience? Does how your world view hold up to its own internal logic?

Consider the possibility of a world view where you are the source and creator. Is it really so far-fetched to think that what you reap is what you sow? It is a good metaphor for how your world works. First you must plant the seed, or do the action, so to speak. Know that if you plant an apple tree, you will get apples and not oranges. So good things that you do can only result in good things, and harmful actions lead to suffering.

Why do Good People Suffer and Bad People Triumph?

This is a big demoralizer right here and without the proper understanding of your world, valid thoughts such as these deplete your inner strength. Why do good people suffer and bad people triumph? When you plant an apple seed in the morning, you don't stand there in the afternoon tapping your feet waiting for your juicy succulent apples. Our actions take time to ripen. When the causes and conditions are right, the results will come about. The results will be bigger than the causal action just like a tiny acorn that grows into a huge oak tree.

If you don't plant the seed, you will not see the result. If you plant a seed, you must inevitably get the corresponding result - apples from apple seeds, oak trees from acorn seeds : suffering from harmful thoughts and actions,

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