Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Doomsday To-Do List


Let's start this off by pretending that we believe in the Mayan calendar. Now, since we believe in it, we consequently also believe that the end of the world is going to roll around in a month's time. Yup, the day that Incubus sang about is finally here. Please refer to a the lyrics of Incubus's "A Certain Shade of Green" and click on YouTube for the video of "Warning" by the same band. On a side note, I'd like to thank Brandon Boyd for introducing me to the Mayans during high school. You'd have thought that knowing about this day would be an advantage in terms of preparation but alas, here I am just as unprepared as ever. But the songs were inspirational in a Carpe Diem kind of way so that's good.

So. December 21, 2012. The day believed to be doomsday because the calendar belonging to an ancient civilization stopped at that particular date. Cynics had a field day discussing (making fun of) the accuracy of these claims by suggesting that maybe the Mayans just ran out of space on the slab of rock to carve on.



Which makes sense, too. Just because there's no calendar doesn't mean that time doesn't exist. But you can't shake off the feeling that maybe, just maybe, it could happen. Stranger things have happened, right? But anyway that'a not the point of this blog post. The point of this blog post is this: assuming that the world will end on December 21st, what are the top five things that you would do?

If I truly believed, in my heart of hearts, that the world we live in will go kaput in a month's time, here are some things that I could achieve within that time frame. None of those "climb Mt. so and so," this is a month we're talking about here. 

1. Spend time with people that I haven't seen in a long time.  Make an effort to reconnect with people that I haven't really talked to face to face because social media or cellphones have made us lazy to actually talk to someone. Seeing how a person smiles or fidgets or the sound of their laughter is far more welcomed than Skype meetings and choppy phone reception.

2. Go out on a date. If it's going to be my last, I'd want it to be really fun and enjoyable. The type of date you don't want to wrap up because you're having so much fun. That would be really nice. I haven't had one in a while. In my ideal world, I'd have no problem making this certain thing a reality. But this is real life. The only way I'd get a date is if I ask someone out (which I've never done before). And that's no guarantee either. I guess it would be alright...at least the embarrassment that I'd feel and my thoughts of being a loser because of the blatant rejection will be short lived.

3. Quit my job and spend my life savings on going to one or two great places and experience it to the fullest. As in, waldas. Initially I thought about giving my life savings to a charity of my choice, but then I realized that that was something that a person usually does when they die by themselves. Since I'd be dying with everyone and everything else, a charity won't have much use of the money. So I suppose that using my hard earned moolah whichever way I please is perfectly acceptable.

4. Not fight with any of my family. The worse thing that could happen at the end is letting someone you love feel like you don't love them. I know that I wouldn't want that. So I'd try to be more patient and understanding. Most importantly, I'd try to be more present in their lives. Same thing applies to friends.

5. Spend the rest of my days not giving a crap about what others think of me. Not a very easy task to do since I seem to be so apologetic over some things that I do as a person. This might mean that I would have little regard for how my actions will affect other people's thoughts and feelings. It's a little selfish, but some people do it on a daily basis, why can't I?

My five things are probably seem shallow in the eyes of others. And these things won't give me a truly happy and fulfilled life in a span of a month. But honestly, it's near impossible to cram in so much life learning and experiences in a short time. I imagine that yuppies like me would hardly feel some level of peace in their minds over the life that they lived so far. But to me, the things I've listed down are things that could make me feel at ease with things. At least when the world ends, I'd feel good about where I was at that particular time. I may not have found a lasting love, but at least I had a kick-ass date before I died. I may not have a perfect family or had a million friends like the others seem to have, but at least we were together til the end. You catch my drift? At least I'll like my life when I leave it. 

No comments: