The End of the World as We Know It?

Okay, so the other night I said I was going to give some serious thought to what I would do if I knew the world were ending. Well I have and, to be perfectly honest, I'm still not sure. However, I do have some thoughts on the subject.

First of all, I think this situation would be completely different, at least for me, than if I simply knew that I was going to die. If I knew I were dying, I think I would probably try desperately to find a way to leave behind some sort of legacy before it was too late. I would want to make sure that my life meant something. I would want everyone who was left to remember me fondly and feel that I made a difference. Not that I think this would really do any good. That's pretty much what I've been doing my whole life anyway. Then again, I have always worked best under pressure. So you never know, I might come up with something.

The point is, if the entire world were about to end, that would no longer matter. There is no such thing as a legacy if everyone is dead. Why bother doing something memorable if there is not going to be anyone left to remember it? However, I still don't think I would feel comfortable spending my last days doing purely selfish things, and I still really wouldn't even know what kinds of things those would be anyway. Basically at that point, the only thing that would have any meaning at all is helping another being find a little bit of happiness. Nothing would matter to anyone anymore except how they felt in those last few moments.

So here it is. Are you ready? Here is my plan for the apocalypse; I would travel around and release as many captive animals as possible into the wild. This is something I've wanted to do a million times anyway, and the only thing that has really stopped me from doing it is the thought "What if they can't survive in the wild?" "What if I release them and they just die even sooner than they would have if I'd left them alone?" Well, in this situation it wouldn't matter. If everyone is going to die anyway, at least this way they would die free. They might even get a chance to be happy for a little while. And I could die feeling like I made a difference because maybe I brought a few moments of joy to someone.