Let’s play a simple game: let’s assume that you are going to die come December 2012. Scary? Of course not! For a couple of years now, many people have already imagined that the Mayans might have already known that the world will end a few months from today. So, assuming that they are correct and we are really bound to die this December; let me ask you: what will you do?
If you have living your final months on this planet, what will you desire to accomplish? Think about the Cancer patients who were told by their doctors that they have nothing but a few months to live. Think of those who are sentenced to death. Or better yet, think about a little swine that is intended to be roasted in a few days’ time.
We are used to living life with the assumption that there’s always a “next time”. We procrastinate a lot and spend so much time idle simply because we have known that there is another day to live by. How wonderful would it be if we imagine that our life has a deadline and that this deadline is very proximate. We might avoid sleep because it can “waste” our precious time left.
Steve Jobs, the founder and former CEO of Apple, once said that the best way to achieve our full potential is to live as if today is our last day on earth. In his perspective, if today is his last day to ever work, he will give his best shot, his best ideas and the best of everything he has. If you do this every single day, then you have just become the best version of you and who knows, the best person in your company!
The same is true with family relations. Have you observed how death can somehow patch broken family ties? People do not like to “depart” this planet with some grudges or un-forgiveness left in their hearts. So, if we can only assume that we are to die today, then we might as well have the courage to fix our relationships and live a more peaceful life. We will have the best time with our family, friends and neighbours.
However, this is not really what’s happening now. In the past few years, people who have believed that the Mayan doom’s day is real did not resort to these things, instead, some of them simply sold their properties in the hope of getting some space in the supposed massive underground dungeon that will keep them alive for the entire 2012. Some even severed relationships in the sole desire of surviving the said catastrophe.
How about you? What will you do? Let’s assume that you are indeed to die in December. If you have just been informed today, what will be your initial reaction and what will you do first? As for me, I will call my Mother and then book a plane ticket back home. I will spend enough time with family, then after that, I will try to conquer the world. 