Parenting challenges and the Mayan Calendar.

2. January 2012 by Gennyfer.

We have a society built on dreams. “The American Dream.” Dreams of the future. Dreams are our hopes for a better future.

The arrival of the year 2012 has me reflecting on what happens when people believe an end-of-the-world prediction.

I was somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 when my mother first told me when the world would end. It was to be 10 years in the future according to some source she trusted. During the same conversation she said something about humans originally being spirits that had offended God by inhabiting animals, so, we were forced to become flesh. I think her point was the end-of-the-world would be a good thing. I just felt hopeless and scared.

Her world’s end beliefs changed over the years depending on which “guru” she was following at the time and I don’t believe she even remembered all of them or marked their passing. I recall one prediction, not occurring, being explained away by 9/11. That was the predicted event and the psychics were picking up on the strong energy from that event.

It’s hard not to believe your parent when their belief’s are the basis for your own belief system. We didn’t talk about careers or how to support yourself. There was no future I should expect or plan. Many years later, I do wonder what my life would have looked like if I’d had the opportunity to dream about what I wanted to be when I grew up.

As we get further in to 2012 the news will be full of speculation about the Mayan calendar. I predict we’ll see many stories about how various people are imagining what will happen in December. These people being interviewed will be certain of their beliefs. Our children will watch these stories.  How can we help them maintain hope and perspective?

Keep talking about the future. Your plans for yourself, your hopes for your children, what they need to do to get from here to the fulfillment of their dreams, these are important discussions to have with your children or other children in your life.

No one knows when the end of the world will come. The ultimate glass-half-empty thinking is the idea that any of us could die tomorrow so why bother doing anything. Teach your children to seize the day and plan for the wonder of tomorrow. Teach them how to live not how to die.

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