2012 -- What does the future hold?

 by Pettis Perry

As we close out 2011 and ring in 2012, it is time to account for what our year has brought us and to question what the future holds for us. Since I accounted for my own 2011 year in my December 25, 2011 Life Blog, I'll now focus on my thoughts about 2012.

(2011) Mare Island Bridge, Vallejo, CA

To begin with, I am very excited and hopefully optimistic about 2012. I look forward to completing a number of goals like publishing some articles, writing a book, finding a place to call home, and expanding my relationships. I look forward to again spending time with my son in Canada, returning to Cabo, and continuing my own growth. I am cautiously optimistic for our nation now that we are shifting our strategy from guns to butter (ending the war in Iraq and troop reductions in Afghanistan). Maybe now we can clean up our economic mess and positively impact the global economy (we're beyond your economy and my economy). I am hopeful that as our economy begins to right itself , we can begin to rebuild our middle class, which is the economic engine in our capital economy. Finally, I am also hopeful that the forces of the light will begin to move the pendulum in a direction that will bring humanity closer together as one people of planet Earth.

However, for the first time I truly wonder what the future holds. As I watch the global events unfold there appears to be a major power shift that is taking place unlike anything since World War II. Uprisings on a global scale cause me to wonder just how close we are to a Holocaustic war in the Middle East. I am more concerned at this time in history than I was during the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s. What concerns me this time around is that there are many more actors wanting time on the world stage. Unlike the Cuban Missile Crisis which was tantamount to a boxing  match between two heavy weights, this time it is much more like a rumble and all out brawl between multiple gangs organized solely around self-interests and fighting to control the turf.

(2011) Mare Island Bridge, Vallejo, CA

My efforts to balance my feelings about 2012 are further complicated by the scores of prophecies and predictions over  many millennia concerning the coming end of days, which by virtue of my spiritual beliefs, forces me to question whether there will be a 2013, and if so, what that might look like too.  

I've been asking myself, what if it is true that we are coming to the end of civilization as we know it?  What then? What will be birthed out of that cataclysmic shift, if anything?  Assuming that a new civilization emerges out of the ashes, will we make the same mistakes that we are making now by raping our planet and destroying our own habitat?

Dan Millman who is one of my favorite authors provides the opportunity for us to explore our Life paths using the dates of our birth, so I decided to see what the Life path for the new civilization might look like assuming death and rebirth occurred on the same day using the 12/21/2012 end of days scenario.

By applying the rules for numerology to the 12/21/2012 birth date, the birth would produce the following life path for the new civilization: According to the rules 12+21+2012=11/2. 

Since the number sequence is reduced to 11 when adding the numbers together, you first get a double dose of the number 1 which interestingly enough, is associated with creativity. The number 1  as described by Millman (2011) indicates that as "Individuals working 1 as their life purpose are here to bring positive creative energy into the world. However, because our life purpose offers special challenges, 1s have to overcome insecurity and associated tendencies to block, to withhold, or to discharge energy through addictive behaviors." (If you want to  check out your Life path go to the Peaceful Warrior web site by either clicking on the link under my Favorites  or by navigating to http://www.peacefulwarrior)

Next, further reduce the number 11 to the number 2 by adding the double digits together producing the Life path number 2. The Life path number 2 represents "cooperation, adaptability, consideration of others, partnering, mediating" (http://numerology.findyourfate.com/). Combined this forecast gives me hope that maybe we will move towards a different way of Being as human beings. My hope is that we will finally learn how to use our creative capacities cooperatively to produce something magnificent for not just our own sense of civilization but something much more contributory and productive for the universe as a whole.

Assuming that numerology works and that it can be applied to whole civilizations then this gives me hope that what rises from the ashes will finally get us to the point where I wish we were today. Just think of how much Life would be enhanced if we moved away from conflict and towards cooperation. How much more fulfilled could we become as human beings?

(2011) Mare Island Bridge, Vallejo, CA

Fortunately, a consequential blessing from my Life threatening  medical experience in 2011, forced  me to consider the very real possibility of  my own death, so I have already reconciled that issue for myself and I am fine with what I have accomplished with my Life, making the rest all gravy. Over the years, what I have come to realize about Life is that death is a part of the Life cycle for people, planets, stars, and whole galaxies. It is part of the renewal process leading to transformation of whole systems. Recognizing some eventual truth about the beginning--ending--new beginning cycle is anything but a doomsday prophecy  from my perspective because it enables me to reconcile my oneness with the cosmos and all things in the cosmos. Thus, it enables me to free myself from those things of which I have absolutely no control and to focus on the one thing of which I do have control--my Self.

Therefore, in the closing moments of 2011, as I contemplate my own approach to 2012, I have decided to continue with my respect for the forces of nature without believing that the future of the planet is automatically doomed because of the prophecies. As a result, I will not live in fear of the unknowable, choosing instead to live by following my own advice: Pettis Principle #4 -- Nothing in Life is guaranteed  so why not step boldly into the next second.

Tonight when the clock strikes midnight in my world and I am entering the first second of 2012 you will find me in the process of listening to "I smile" by Kirk Franklin, "I play for keeps" by Cedric Le'Mont, and "How Wonderful You Are" by Michael Lange (see my November 11, 2011 blog) as I move confidently forward to see what mysteries will unfold in 2012. When the stroke of midnight comes to your world, to all of you I salute your journeys and wish you the very best that Life has to offer you! 

Whatever happens in 2012 be sure to make the most of it! Soak up every second of your Life like a sponge and let your cup overflow. As I tell my son, leave nothing on the ice (expend all of your energy towards your Life purpose) and in the end, you will never live with regrets!

This night my toast is "Happy New Year planet Earth! May 2012 be the best year ever for all of us! Salute!

Travel well, fellow travelers.

Picture Credit Thanks to  http://www.wpclipart.com