The Highest Calling

"The world is going to end in December of this year.  Did you know that?" This is what my friend said to me with absolute certainty the other day. I caught myself raising a skeptical eyebrow at him, sighing, and saying, "No, it's not going to end". During our debate he mentions the Mayan Prophecies predicting that the world will end this year.  I told him that it was my understanding that the Mayan Prophecies were not referring to the end of the physical world at all, but that there will be a change coming. Please refer to the video link of an interview with a Mayan Elder talking about the prophecies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVxo1AvV_KQ  (I've added this link just in case the link at the top does not work.  I don't have a lot of confidence in my technological capabilities.  Perhaps a better term to describe my capabilities would be technological culpabilities because I'm generally guilty of not understanding almost everything about it).  <:oP


I'm not so sure if the prophecy will or won't come to pass in any way, shape or form but I am sure that it is better to let people in the culture talk about what it means to them instead of us putting our own meaning to it.  The same is true for individuals - allowing a person to speak for themselves rather than putting words into their mouth is better for everybody concerned.


Aside from the prophecy I would like to share with you a few observations that I have made about the world changing.  People can call this what they want whether it's the Age of Aquarius en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius , ancient prophecies of any kind, new age - whatever. For me, this is just my observations.


In the past decade, in the Western cultures, there has been more interest in connection with others, mindfulness, & understanding ourselves and others. Some people have found this path through Buddhist thought, meditation, yoga and other spiritual paths.  Other people have found this path through research such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSO6iAFekPw , Positive Psychology (see link in Positive Psychology blog please), and researchers like Brene Brown www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEPbkvhPuRk&feature=related .  Brene is a Social Worker who has researched personality traits associated with fulfillment. Then there are those, like myself, who have learned through both the spiritual paths and the research.


What I observe is that people are wanting a more genuine, fulfilling life.  That they strive to break loose from self & socially imposed shackles and chains to a life of gratitude, genuineness, deepening connection with other people, and mindfulness.  I believe that we will see this type of research being done for years to come. I also believe that gratitude, genuineness, deep connection, and mindfulness is the crux of spirituality.  There is no higher calling than connection, empathy, openness and understanding other people.