There’s a lot going on these days, and even the least sensitive person on the planet is picking up on it. It feels like big change is happening, in part because big change is, in fact, happening. Some people have focused on the idea of the Rapture, some people have focused on the idea of the Mayan Calendar. Some people are just taking themselves out. All of this is an indication of a certain level of hopelessness, of wanting a quick and easy way out, and of being susceptible to fear and fear-mongering.

We are undergoing a paradigm shift, and it makes people uncomfortable. The FreeDictionary.com defines paradigm as “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.” Our view of the world and how things work is changing, and that shakes the very foundations of reality. The negative ego labels anything that does not foster stability as “bad” or “evil,” so we recoil. In truth, the only constant in the Universe is change, and a paradigm shift is a mental shift, not a physical one.

Yes, there are a lot of physical changes going on as well. A group of scientists and government planners recently announced that the extreme weather we are seeing world-wide is probably going to become the norm. There are, as there have always been, earthquakes going on, although this has been a fairly active time for that. The global economy is changing. The balance of economic power is changing. Technology is changing.

Everything changes.

Latching on to some idea that this all leading to a quick and drastic change which will negate your need to make any adjustments or to adapt isn’t the way to do it. Finding ways to be comfortable and flexible and grow with the changes is a much healthier path. It is, however, understandable that some people are reacting this way, and those people should be approached with compassion, because they are in fear. Those that believe the information from a place of faith should also be viewed with compassion, because they are being led astray.

Those that promote that fear, especially when they take advantage or try to make money off of the fear, or off of people’s faith, should be shunned or prosecuted. One of my colleagues pointed out, just this morning, that those of us in the woo-woo field are expected to issue a disclaimer that our work, especially in the realm of prediction, is “for entertainment purposes only,” because banking on it is just so much gambling. Anyone who tells you with absolute certainty that they can predict the future is lying to you. Yet, people like Harold Camping are allowed to predict the very end of the world, on a  certain date, creating upheaval in people’s lives, and no one steps in. That is the real travesty.