If you’re reading this, it means that the world did not end today despite what pseudo-experts have been saying about the Mayan calendar predicting the demise of the planet.

Then again, you could be reading this with your morning cup of coffee and all seems well, then an intensity 24 earthquake will strike tonight. But chances of the latter happening are infinitesimal at best.

It sort of reminds us of the brouhaha that built up as the year 2000 approached, and predictions made by other faux experts about the chaos that would follow after all the computers of the world would fail because they were not built to accommodate any year beyond 1999.

The Y2K superbug didn’t exist at all but some smart tech businessmen made tons of cash selling software to stop the spread of the computer killer.

Comes now the 12-21-12 threat that Superman, Thor and the Hulk combined could not defeat. That threat is actually as real as the three fictional superheroes.

I had a chat with my LA-based brother-in-law a few hours ago and he said it seemed that a good number of Americans were taking the end times scenario quite seriously.

Some are moving to their underground shelters, most of which were upgraded shelters that were built at the height of the Cold War when nuclear war was imminent and the end of the world was considered nigh.

I told my bro-in-law that that’s what made us Pinoys different. I don’t know of a single kababayan of ours who is taking the Mayan prediction seriously. In fact, we are all preparing to party today.

We at The Manila Times, in fact, moved our Christmas party to coincide with the supposed end of the world. I expect to celebrate the mother of all Christmas parties tonight. My doctor even gave me permission to have a drink or two, which I interpret to actually mean three or four.

In the many months approaching the magical date Dec. 21, 2012, I kept telling friends who were taking the grim scenario seriously that what the Mayans meant was that the world as we know it could end.

Today could be the beginning of massive changes in our individual existence.

To be fair, Mother Earth really is crying out for help. Since she can’t speak, she does so by unleashing her full fury in the form of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and superstorms every so often.

Every one of us can either do our part in saving our world, or be part of the problem. For those who choose to be the latter, lessening our individual carbon footprints is one way. We can use less plastic, a growing trend in some cities that have banned the use of the non-biodegradable material.

The world will end sooner or later, but long before that happens all of us will meet our individual ends. What we do between now and that time will determine if the short life we were granted was worthwhile.

To paraphrase my favorite line from the Bible (rewritten as a song by the Byrds in the glorious ‘60s), there is a time to every purpose under heaven.

Today is not the end of the world, folks. Today is a time for partying!

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.