It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine…

When this particular scenario comes to you in the form of a question, what’s the first answer that pops into your head? Well, what’s the question? you wonder. If the world were to end at this time tomorrow, what would you do today? That’s different from just asking, “What would you do if you knew the world was about to end?” Isn’t it?

Everyone in the discussion group agreed that they would probably go home and hang out with their loved ones until the world ended, but I wondered what that meant, exactly. Would there be a bright flash before Earth disintegrated? Would the ground shake itself to pieces and swallow every human on the planet in the process?

Would there be pandemonium and hysteria en masse or would everyone take this calmly and wait for time to tick to zero?

The future is uncertain, a mirror that doesn’t reflect anything but what we wish would happen, and even those desires are as wispy as the clouds we see on a sunny day. The future, on the other hand, is as thick and dark as the clouds that form when thunderstorms or even hurricanes appear on the horizon. It takes without asking, wreaks havoc with present predictions, and ultimately consumes today and becomes the present.

Were we to know what the future would bring, would we want to continue living?

I’m happy enough with those fleeting glimpses that our answers to curious questions like “What would you do if the world ended” gives us. I may not know the future, may not like what I hear will happen in the future from others, but then again, I prefer to remain in the present. I know the present well.