If you believe in the Mayan calendar, we have about one year left on the lovely planet Earth before the Apocalypse arrives. According to historians, many cultures have predicted December of 2012 as the end of a cycle and a rebirth of some sort. In addition to the Mayans, other cultures and prophets such as the Hopi, Navajo, Egyptians and even Nostradamus predicted the Earth’s demise in 2012.

It seems the human race has a strange need to contemplate its mortality on an ongoing basis. Most recently, many of us were in a panic over the supposed horrors of Y2K. And before that highly predictable non-event, we had the following apocalyptic scares:

• Harold Camping predicted with 99.9% certainty that the world would end in September of 1994. When this didn’t happen, he came up with a new doomsday prediction on May 21, 2011, and once again on October 21, 2011.

• The Hale-Bopp comet of 1997 provided a scare for some who believed the end of the world was near. Unfortunately, it was indeed the end for the 39 cult members of Heaven’s Gate who committed suicide.

• Haley’s comet of 1910 set the world in a panic over the possibility of exposure to the comet’s deadly gasses.

Whether you believe any of these doomsday scenarios or not, contemplating your mortality is not necessarily a bad thing. Humans have the unique ability to plan ahead for the future, and for you, this includes continuing to provide financially for your loved ones, even when you are gone. Term life insurance gives us a sense of control over the future, which helps ease our fear of the unknown.

Of course, having term life insurance may not help any of us if the Apocalypse of 2012 does come to fruition!