Catastrophobia and 21/12/2012 is it the end?

On Friday 21st December 2012 the current cycle of the Mayan calendar comes to an end and it will be the end of a 26,000 year astronomical cycle period.  Several other ancient calendars also end on that date and there have been many predictions that the world will come to an end on that day.  In some countries there is such an intense fear that the world is going to end that the term Catastrophobia (Catastrophobia = an intense fear of catastrophes) has been used to describe it.  Some of the predictions of how the world will end include: an invasion by aliens, the Sun will explode or a comet will hit the earth.  So great is people's fear that NASA has been moved to produce an official video stating that predictions of an apocalypse are wrong.  (See the NASA website). Telescopes world wide have been scouring the skies searching for a likely comet or even a planet that might crash into the Earth and have not found one.  The Sun has been closely monitored and has been found to be very quiet as regards solar flare activity.  So do I think the world will end on Friday?  No!  The Mayans actually called the ending of this cycle on December 21st 'Creation Day'.  Many people believe that rather than being the end of the world the day will actually herald the start of a time of improvement in conditions on Earth.  There will be a spiritual and intellectual awakening that actually started 25 years ago in 1987.  I don't think it will be sudden but I do believe there will be a continuation and a speeding up of this gradual shift in consciousness.  On the other hand many people are seeing this date as an excuse for a party and will be, 'Partying like there's no tomorrow' so instead of worrying about it, why not go out and have a good time instead.