Stephen Simon

Stephen is the cofounder of Spiritual Cinema Circle, a producer and director, and the author of The Force Is With You.

If today were my last day on Earth and I could share 500 words of brilliance with the world, here are the important things I'd want to pass along to others...

The drumbeat of doom and gloom about the so-called end of the Mayan Calendar in December, 2012 can now be heard, seen, and read with increasing frequency in all forms of media.

Apocalyptic books about 2012 are on publishing schedules worldwide. Networks are preparing documentaries and series about the "end times". Here are some upcoming movie titles in just 2009 and 2010: Nostradamus: 2012; 2012:The Earth Was No More; 2012: The War for Souls, and my personal favorite title so far: 2012:The Day the Earth Bent Over. And we still have 2011 and 2012 to go!

An entire industry is being fashioned around that December, 2012 date, almost all of which is designed to worry, terrify, and depress as many people as possible.

To which I have two responses:

1) Phooey!
2) Your electricity and credit card bills will still have to be paid in January, 2013, so please don't assume otherwise.

The millions of us who have made a commitment in this lifetime to evolution and hope, rather than despair and destruction, must now be vocal and steadfast. If we're right, and I personally know we are, we can help ease the fear for so many others who truly do fear that the world will physically end in 2012. If we're wrong, and they're right, they can scold us when we all pass over together in whatever cataclysm descends upon us. But please don't bet on the occurrence of that fire and brimstone moment, financially or otherwise. As I said above, there are a whole of people who are going to be shocked to see that the outer appearance of life is going to look awfully similar in January 2013 as it did the month before.

Remember the last "disaster" moment of Y2K? New Year's Eve of 1999, or was it 2000? People who awakened on January 1, 2000 to find that Hal of 2001: A Space Odyssey had not become the ruler of the world, then told us that the next New Year's Eve, 2000, would be the moment of mayhem. Well, unless you drank too much on December 31, 2000, or had a terrible date or something, January 1, 2001 looked pretty much the same as the day before.

There is no reason for us to assume that our outer, physical world is coming to an end in 2012. There is at least as much evidence, if not more, that the 2012 phenomenon bespeaks an inner, spiritual demarcation point for humanity. And that is the crucial distinction that those of us who believe in the manifest destiny of human evolution must champion as we approach December 2012.

THE CHOICE IS OURS AND OURS ALONE. We indeed can choose light over darkness, evolution over destruction, and enlightenment over extinction. This is our exquisite moment. We have the power now to assure not only our survival but also the manifestation of our most profound dreams for our species.

I choose the light and invite you to stand with me.