It's so easy to expect the worst to happen. #thoughts

Isn't it the end of the world yet? Despite all earlier predictions of such kind of an event being disproven by time, here we were again, faced with another similar prediction and there we were again, or at least some of us, thinking or expecting it to be true.

Of course, now, it is easy to say to these people, "You were wrong!" But that's not the point. The point is I've seen many people expect the worst to happen, because it is easy to do so. Because surely, really bad things can happen and have happened. I am also not discounting the fact that there is indeed a possibility of such to occur. My point is, there is also the possibility of the opposite to occur. My point also is that what might be more important is, we should rather be asking, are we ready if the worst happens? Because the truth is, it could happen anytime, especially if it's a thing of nature. No one can very accurately predict nature. Not even scientists. We have models and so forth, and science has progressed so rapidly, but 100% accurate predictions are still light years away.

I've seen this also in other things, not necessarily science- or nature-related. Like, "Manny Pacquiao will lose his next fight!" Or, "Apple's decline will start!"

It is so tempting to say or to think these things, because at the heart of it all, there are two desires at play: the desire that these things don't happen, and the desire to be able to say "I told you so."

My issue is with the latter desire, coupled with the former. It is like playing it (too) safe, by playing both sides of the coin. Predict the worst, and if it comes true, then, well, you're great, aren't you? You were right! If not, then something good happens.

But really, all I'm trying to say is this: why don't we just focus on achieving good?

Surely, bad things do happen, as I said. But they don't have to. Or, we don't have direct control over them anyway so as to be able to alter the course of reality. This is in the same way that we can't predict when these things will happen or how or if they will happen.

At the same time, there are things that, sure, we cannot predict when they will happen, but we can tell with certainty that they surely will happen. Of course, the "when" part is important, but we can't ever know when until it is actually here. An example is the occurrence of strong earthquakes and typhoons in the Philippines. We already know they have happened. We know that they could happen again. But, what are we doing about them? Are we trying to avoid them by relocating? Are we trying to build better infrastructure and communities that could be more resilient to these things? Are we hiring properly trained engineers? Are engineers equipping themselves with the latest knowledge, or are they content only on what they have learned? Is business profit more important than business continuity? The question we should all ask is, what are our priorities, and should they indeed be our priorities? Tough question to ask. Tougher still to answer.

Or, let's just say, that indeed the "end of the world" will happen. Let's accept that we don't know when they will happen. The question is, what are we doing so that we are prepared for when it actually happens? What are our priorities in life?