Hands up who thinks the world is coming to an end - hands up those who don't

One thing for sure, it's definitely easier to believe that the world will not come to an end. I'm in that category although not all the time depdending on the latest world events. The controversy surrounding the Mayan calendar and its sudden and abrupt end leads some believers to assume the end of the world is nigh. So it's not surprising that another new poll reveals that 15% of people worldwide believe the world will end in their lifetime. Another 10% are convinced that the Mayan calendar indicates it could occur in 2012.

The beliefs are varied depending on the geographical location. The Ipsos Global Public Affairs conducted the poll for Reuters and asked 16,262 people in 20 countries their opinion on their beliefs. Only 6% of French residents believe that their time on planet earth is nigh (love that word "nigh" - so Shakespeare) compared to 22% of in Turkey. This leads one - me - to believe that the French being who they are, refuse to entertain such an idea. Maybe it's the amount of delicious and inexpensive wine they drink or perhaps they're too busy involved in creating those scrumptious patisseries, or turning out those gorgeous fashions. ("What does that have to do with anything, Eleanor?" Nothing really but I was just thinking...) But I digress.

Meanwhile, getting back to the statistics, 22% of Turks are believers as are U.S. residents, with slightly fewer in South Africa and Argentina. A mere 7% of Belgium residents are world-end-believers and 8% of Brits. Thinking further, perhaps it's due to the Brits staunch character makeup and personna that would lead them to question the concept and dismiss it as heresay. But I digress.

So where were we...furthermore, approximately one in ten people around the world answered that they were apprehensive regarding the concept of planet earth's demise in 2012. The largest numbers are in Russia and Poland.

The Ipsos poll questioned people in China, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Argentina, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Great Britain, Indonesia, Germany.

So what does this all mean in the big picture, you might be asking yourselves. Is the Mayan calendar right? Go know! I'm of the belief that polls take the pulse of people at a particular time. Their answers depend on their state of mind at that moment.  If and when the world does come to an end, whenever, there's nothing much we average humans can do about it. When it's all said and written, perhaps we should live each day as if it was our last and take in everything our world has to offer.

"The mountains, rivers, earth, grasses trees and forests, are always emanating a subtle, precious light, day and night, always emanating a subtle, precious sound, demonstrating and expounding to all people the unsurpassed, ultimate truth." (author unknown)