Earth is approximately

4.6 billion years old.

In the planet's

long and illustrious history there have been two devastating events that

have triggered nearly worldwide extinction, and several more that we're

not really too proud of (see The Crusades, The Holocaust and "Weekend

at Bernie's II").

Sixty-five

million years ago, a comet that was approximately six miles across smashed

into what is known as the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and killed off all

the dinosaurs. There was another event, though, that occurred close to

190 million years before that.

A group of

scientists recently discovered that a comet struck Earth approximately

250 million years ago. The comet was between three and seven miles wide

and wiped out 90 percent of the ocean life and 70 percent of life on the

land. Two hundred fifty million years ago, all of the continents were

joined together in a land that has been called Pangaea.

Were there

cars back then, or humans, it would have been possible to travel from

the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles to Peking for some Chinese food. It

wouldn't be worth the trip, though, because an hour after you left, you'd

be hungry again.

But I digress.

When these

comets struck the planet, a superheated vapor was created and rolled for

hundreds of miles, wiping out everything in its path. There were also

tidal waves and so much dust was launched into the atmosphere that it

darkened the sky for an extended period and chilled the earth.

O.K., so what's

my point?

We're due for

another one of these comets to hit.

This has been

explored in movies like "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact"

and in books like Larry Niven's "Lucifer's Hammer," (which is

terrific, by the way) and yet, nobody talks about this really happening.

Every now and then, somebody will claim that a rock is going to strike

the Earth and, without fail, nothing happens and we collectively laugh

at the Chicken Little.

"Nothing

can ever happen to us," we say. "We have VCRs and Microwaves.

We are an advanced civilization. I mean, hello, icemakers built into refrigerators.

I think we can prevent worldwide extinction."

But we can't.

We can't send

a mining team up in a space shuttle and have them detonate a nuclear warhead

on an asteroid and we can't intercept a comet. We can't even come up with

a more efficient way to handle mail than the post office. I mean, have

you been there on a Saturday? It's a zoo.

Imagine waking

up this weekend, turning on CNN and seeing footage of the comet that will

end life as you know it. There will be footage, of course, and, of course,

CNN and every other network will show it. They'll bring Bernard Shaw out

of retirement so he can stand in the middle of the road and say, "I

was afraid in Baghdad, but I'm not afraid now! Come and get me, sucker!"

And he'd have

the right attitude. As scary as worldwide extinction is, there is really

nothing to fear except surviving it. It would be natural for us to ponder

what is awaiting us on the other side and maybe to be a little fearful.

It would also be natural to be sad and sentimental for all of the things

that will inevitably be wiped out when the tidal wave or the superheated

vapor cloud rolls through town.

But there is

nothing to do. Death is inevitable. Just like taxes and stupid people.

And that is

really my point. As scary as death is, whether it is your death or the

death of a loved one, you can't really avoid it. It would be nice to jump

onto cancer cells or clogged arteries and blow them up with a nuclear

warhead, but that isn't going to happen. And most likely, you won't be

able to intercept that car that is hurtling toward you either. Death is

coming and your feelings are natural, but the sooner you can see them

for what they are, and stop living in fear, the better you'll feel.

We all live

in fear. Fear stops us from doing all sorts of things we'd really like

to do. We fear rejection so we don't ask that person out or try out for

that team or apply for that job. We fear hurting someone's feelings, so

we don't say what needs to be said or we don't do what needs to be done.

There may be reincarnation, but until your uncle, who you think came back

as that bird that sits beneath your window, actually talks to you and

tells you to live a better life or you'll be eating worms, think of this

as your only go around and enjoy yourself.

Life is too

short to have regrets and they seem to pile up pretty fast.

Back

to the Top of the Page