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Should I hug my Teddy bear, or should I plant my apple tree?

I recently read that, according to NASA, starting in 2030 the moon will wobble in such a way that it will cause large tides on Earth. And when I had not yet recovered from that news, I read another story that indicates that the studies done in 1972 by MIT experts are correct: humanity will disappear in 2040 or shortly after. So, what options do we have?

An obvious option is to stop paying attention to those predictions (even if they are based on the best available scientific knowledge) and deny their reality and their veracity. That is, act like little children: close your eyes so as not to see what we do not want to see, trusting that, by not seeing it, the problem will disappear.

This attitude of refusing to see reality and believing (wrongly) that something ceases to exist if we do not see it is what I call "hugging the teddy bear", that is, assuming that nothing is going to happen or that whatever is going to happen will happen without us being able to do anything about it.

And when closing our eyes to reality or using any activity or addictive substance to avoid seeing it does not work as we would like, then, in addition to hugging the teddy bear, we start looking for culprits (better said, scapegoats) who we will hold responsible for what what's happening to us. And if that doesn't work either, we'll start with attacks and even destruction.

The other option is to open our eyes to reality and recognize two things: we ourselves are the main reason and cause of the serious problems afflicting us, and we humans are no longer the most intelligent or most “necessary” species on this planet.

This attitude is what I call "planting the apple tree", in reference to the phrase "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree", an expression thought to be (without proof) from the reformer Martin Luther and used last century by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This attitude, as reflected by the fact of planting the apple tree, allows to maintain composure and, at the same time and for that reason, to maintain an open mind, an open heart, and an open will. For this reason, instead of looking for culprits, we look for companions on the path of life. And those acts of destruction become acts of co-creation.

In other words, faced with inevitable changes that are beyond our control and that, apparently, will not be beneficial for the future of humanity, we can adopt two positions: despair or hopelessness. Despair paralyzes and blinds us. The desperate person will try anything, regardless of cost or consequences.

However, the hopeless person, having become aware of his/her place in the universe, feels liberated from the need to "take control" and, for that reason, he/she faces and awaits the new reality with his totality of his/her being, now also transformed.  

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