Doomsday predictions since my schooldays.

Since my teenage years, I have been told about the end of the world. There was this young girl who told me that her mother had gone to a medium their family had faith in and the medium had predicted that the end of the world was getting nearer and advised all the followers to be ready.

Then, about ten years later, another young lady told me a similar story. She was there when the female medium told her devotees to prepare themselves for the end of the world which would take place no later than two years from that time.

Two years came and went. Nothing happened. Of course, this guy took all that was said with a pinch of salt. With my virile youth and the whole bright future in my vision, it failed to dampen or change my lust for happiness in all my activities during those beautiful years, years when I was at the top of my world with a healthy, stronger body through Charles Atlas and throught weight-lifting. Youthful energy ruled my days as I wandered all over Penang Island, a place one friend who knew my wandering ways called ‘my playground’. It was on this delightful island that I would go in search of knowledge, spiritual truth and happiness.

During my years of marriage, I put heart and soul into my home, planning for the years ahead, for a family life. Two children we had and most of the time was spent ensuring they had the best possible education and preparation for life. With that in focus, no end of the world prediction reached my ears.

It is only now when my wife has gone back to God, my children in their universities that once again I read of the Mayan calendar ending in October 2010 that has caused the ‘End of the World’ idea to surface.

From the way I see it, such a prediction is being propagated so as to bring people together for a good number of purposes. Newspapers will get more readers who are curious to know more of the prediction. Blogs, just like mine (See?), will have something to ponder about. Books will be written and its sales will be profitable. They have already made a movie out of 2012, the year of total destruction. Phophecies will be made. More good can also be expected. People will be more willing to donate ALMOST EVERYTHING they have to charity.

And that was what I heard from my group of friends. Someone hopes to get as much good karma as possible by donating almost everything they have before the world disintegrate or is smashed to smittereens. According to them, what's the use of them when there will be no more life.

It is good that people can become generous. It is good to have people think of the value of life. Perhaps,they would be able to appreciate whatever life and health they still have, to look at life in a different perspective.

It is wonderful to think of having good karma too. Nevertheless, even if we do not get karma, it is a fantastic feeling to be able to perform good deeds. The opportunity to help someone is always there and I know it for a fact the wonderful joy you can experience in carrying out such generous, helpful acts, a joy which in itself is sufficient reward. You do not have to believe me. Just do it. Help someone start his motorcycle. Take an old lady across the street. Stop to pick up some papers that had fallen onto the road from someone’s files. Just some simple assistance that do not require spending a single cent. Experience the quiet joy that comes from your heart, from your own inner self. Just experience that and you will know what I am talking about.

However, do not throw away all your wealth or possessions just because you think your world will no longer exist very soon. What if you are wrong? What if it is like the other predictions that never materialise?

As for me, I strongly believe the world will continue to spin around with the sun smiling into my eyes each morning, the rain cooling my body with its massaging flow down my body whenever I am caught in it as I trek up the hill and the cool breeze of the evening caress my cheeks as the setting sun sinks so slowly behind the hills, his embarrassed red face spied by the early eagerly-emerging moon. This beautiful world will still be around after 2012 for me to relish its many wonders.

Why am I so sure about that? Well, for one thing, I have heard people cry ‘wolf’ once too often to believe it.

Spiritualists tell me that for the last ten years nobody has gone to heaven. The implication is that there is no one good enough to enter its gates for that period of time. That is certainly unacceptable. No one? Impossible! You know, if there is a heaven (Sorry but to this day I have found no proof whatsoever of that.), my wife (I do not like to use the word ‘late’ for my deceased wife.) would be one sure candidate for it. I can vouch for her goodness. In fact, one of her niece likens her to ‘The Goddess of Mercy’. She has always been one of the best. And I believe there are many, many more like her. In fact, some of them I know personally. Without a doubt, there are lots of good people in our world. They are often unknown for their deeds are usually unsung, known only to the people who appreciate their presence.

Because there are more good than bad people in our world, the good karma overrides the bad karma and no great harm can happen to the world . In fact, even in ‘bad people’ there is still a lot of goodness in them. Sometimes, circumstances caused them to act badly.

So, let us forget about the end of the world. Let us continue to do whatever we can to improve this world of ours not because the end is near but because there is still sufficient time for all of us to learn, improve and let the divine spirit in each and everyone of us shine out to the whole world, making it an even better place for ourselves in the many future generations to come.