Frankly, I waited to write this blog until just now because…well, you know, just in case Harold Camping was right. I don’t usually subscribe to the viewpoints of lunatics with a preoccupation towards end-of-day prophesies, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. So it stands to reason if someone predicts the end of the world every day for a lifetime, the odds of that coming true are greater that if that person just predicts the end of the world one time only. Yeah, the odds go up with each prediction.

Alas, Harold Camping was wrong. And it’s sad that many of his believers interviewed on the news on Friday will have their faith shattered today because they chose to put their trust in a man with no special psychic connectivity to the universe or the mind of God. Heck, a piece of chewing gum stuck to a shoe has about the same level of intuition as Mr. Camping.

I don’t wish to write a blog dissing Camping or his naive followers. I don’t even want to bash the concept of Doomsday because, let’s face it, the concept of the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it spawned a great REM song and many creative books and movies.

No, I want to the use Doomsday as a challenge for you to live with intention each day and not just on special holidays like, oh, I don’t know, your last day on Earth.

As a general rule, avoid time-based offers. Many of those in the Doomsday camp use infomercial pressure tactics that cry ACT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE! If you have to ACT NOW to take advantage of an offer, you should just pass.

More importantly, as a specific rule, live according to your beliefs and values each day. Know what you believe. Act on those beliefs. If you do those two things, it doesn’t matter if today is your last day on Earth or if you have another 80 years in front of you. If you know what you believe and you act upon it, you’ll have no regrets. You won’t have to keep an eye on the clock wondering if today is the day you have to justify your life.

Instead of living in fear, live right and live right now.