Friday, December 21, 2012

Not Another End of The World Post

If you are reading this, it means we are all still here and this was yet-another-Apocalypse-Armageddon-End of the World fiasco. OR it means you are a survivor and I was most likely sent straight to Dragon Hell, head first, for mocking about the yet-another-Apocalypse-Armageddon-End of the World date.

Since it is most likely the first option and there is no more Mayan calendar to read, the only thing left to do is pick up another dramatic encrypted message in some other piece of stone, change the interpretation of the stones we already have or, as the picture suggests, start deciphering possible Wiping Off the World Dates on the Oreos.

I must confess although I laughed shamelessly at the whole 2012 End stuff, I gave some thought to it too. The end of the world is, for me, the day I die. Whether the Earth keeps spinning or not, evidently the world would be over for me.  I know people don't like to talk about death but I spent long years trying to understand it and after so much study, I ended up losing any fear I could have felt about it. I suppose it greatly depends on what I believe death is and what happens afterwards, or if there is even an afterwards. However, I am not nearly discussing death here.

Ironically, the End of the World fans made me think about Life. I don't need some prophecy to tell me life is not guaranteed. People tend to take it for granted but truth is the end of *my* world may come tomorrow, a week from now or in many more years. The world may end for a person in a second, announced or unannounced.

I've heard many times, "Live this day as if it were the last of your life." Those who have had Near Death Experiences suffer a drastic change in their personalities because they become extremely aware how precious their world is. They become more loving, more patient, more grateful and less worried about things that suddenly don't matter as much as they thought. Priorities change forever. They see the world with different eyes.

Facing terminal diseases have similar effect. "If you knew you would die young, what would have you changed about  your life?" - "I would have done this, I would have done that. I would have told my people how much I loved them. I would have taken time for the real important things. I would forgive, ask for forgiveness.." and a long etc.

I cannot help but to wonder why humans are so worried about the Future, so obsessed about the Past, and let Present drip off their hands. A teacher once told me, "With a foot firmly standing on the Past, and the other foot firmly standing on the Future, we pee on the Present." Not so elegant, my teacher, but truthful enough. Or as my good friend, Master Oogway quoted: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called present."

Talking of the end of the world, to me, has nothing to do with the useless and morbid sensationalism around prophecies, regardless who wrote about them. Personally, I think it's more of a "heads-up" to understand all we truly have certain is the NOW, to say what we want to say, to do the best we can do and to be the best we can be. It's to pay more attention to this instant and make of it the best of our lives -just as if it were to be the last-.

Becoming the best we can ever be, I believe, it's the essence of  the spirit of Christmas.

Paradoxically, I think the way to practice the spirit of Christmas all the year involves to keep in mind we won't get a memo to warn us about the end of the world, not the Earth, but our *personal* world. To be aware that everything we have is borrowed for the time that's given us to have it. It wouldn't hurt to appreciate each instant as if it were the last.

I'm one creature who has faced near extinction more than a couple times. That's why I never leave the Cave without giving my loved ones a kiss and a tight hug. My greetings also involve hugs. (Ok, so I am a cuddly type of dragon). I take time to watch the sun, the stars, the rain, the moon, feel the wind, and hear the birds as if it were the last time I'm enjoying all that. I thank every morning I wake up to, and every night I manage to get to my bed safe, aware that those I love are safe in their beds too.

Above all, I try to keep all paws firmly standing on the Now. What say you? Do you think you can try?








14 comments:

  1. Appreciate the day we are given!
    I think the only thing an Oreo can predict is that it will be eaten.

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    1. Haha, that would be a prediction that will never fail.

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  2. I will not leave this earth unless or until I am accompanied by a host of heavenly beings. Period. But your point is well-taken-- living each day in full appreciation and awareness is a good rule to live by. I'm so glad you're a cuddly dragon. They're the best kind.

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    1. I will not leave this earth unless I am received by a host of my animal friends waiting for me on the other side. :) I'm cuddly but not the Rainbow Bright type of cuddling, eh? I'm still tough. *Tough ha-ha-ha*

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  3. I hug my daughter every day and tell her I love her every night before she goes to bed. I've been doing it for almost 17 years now. It never gets old.

    Loved the Oreo. :)

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    1. That's a wonderful practice and even more wonderful you keep doing it. I haven't done it that long but never is too late to change. :) I think I'll get to decipher those Oreos, hehehe.

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  4. Wonderfully written, and I do agree. I have fun with apocalyptic predictions, but I've also been near death on different occasions, and have recently found out my dad is dying at a fairly young age (59). It is always a reminder to enjoy what you have. I do tend to think that this is part of the message post-apocalyptic themes are passing on. Above all, they show us what we would lose were it to happen, and what we would value and miss most of all.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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    1. Light is only bright because we know darkness. Life is even prettier once we face death. Rich is not he who has everything but he who loves everything he has. :)

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  5. I knew dragons were wise. Okay, they're tough too. Some are even a little cuddly, I suppose. But Father Dragon is wise. I'm now left to wonder whether dragons share their Oreos. ;-)

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    1. So majority says: We must raid the Oreo box. :D

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  6. Hang on; you brought Oreos????? ;-)

    Years ago, I worked with a woman who developed breast cancer. She went on a medical leave for some months. Then she returned, hale and hearty. She and I got to talking one day and I mentioned I had trouble falling asleep most nights. She said she used to as well, but since the cancer, she's never again had any difficulties in getting to sleep. She said it's hard to scare her, now. I wonder if it takes confronting death personally to focus on the Now...Well, I'm cowardly enough that I hope it doesn't have to happen for me that way!
    Some Dark Romantic

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    1. Although NDE do change one's vision about life I also think they're not necessary if one just change the Point of View. That sounds familiar for a writer, uh? :D

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  7. I do feel uneasy about death, but not because I fear what comes after. I am not religious or spiritual and I believe that once I'm dead, that's it. I'm at peace. So I don't really know why I fear it. I think though , it's just 'cause I love life and don't want to stop living it.

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    1. Louis Armstrong said it already, right. What a wonderful world. Too wonderful to leave it. ;)

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