My nine year old cousin asked me the other day if I thought the world was going to end. It’s a question that’s been giving her a lot of trouble. She’s scared that the world is going to end soon.

At first I didn’t know what to say. Of course I wanted to reassure you that everything was okay, that the world would not end, but a part of me knew she was asking me, because she knew I wouldn’t lie to her just because she’s a child. So I weighed my answer by measuring the question.

Of course, being of a scientific background and having a strong curiosity in physics. My first answer was going to be a scientific one, ‘well yes, someday the sun will run out of fuel and expand and engulf the Earth, but that won’t be for millions, billions of years from now.’ But that’s not what she was asking. The question was drenched in urgency, she was referring to the decay of modern civilization, she’s a smart girl and I don’t know what they teach in her Texas school system about Climate change, but she’s worried about the natural world, and the role that civilization plays in its destruction. She’s too young to put all the pieces together, but she knows what the puzzle looks like. I wanted to tell her that every generation feels they’re on the cusp of annihilation. Humanity is always at odds with itself, but what is beautiful about us is we do usually rise to the occasion and as long as we have faith in our fellow man, we can rise above, but saying it in my head, I knew I didn’t believe that. Not since the creation of the atom bomb does worldwide extinction seem more on the horizon. Wars, famine, genocide, record setting storms and draughts, sea levels rising, and the lack of mobilization and empathy from the modern world, no longer run by champions of the people elected into political offices, but by the corporations and CEOs who put them there.

I then looked deeper into her question, into her eyes, and that’s where I discovered the question dealt with her fear, the fear of her own mortality. She’s young, very young and wants to live a good and full life. I want her to too, but with everything that’s going on in the world; she fears she won’t be allowed to.

So I place my hand on her shoulders and look her in the eyes and say “I don’t know…the world is crazy, full of crazy people who seem to get more and more crazy as time goes on, Sometimes it seems as though, no hope exists, but as long as you care and as long as you do whatever you can to change what you don’t like about the world, there is hope. Don’t be afraid of tomorrow, live for today and work to be ready for what’s to come. So if you’re scared about what’s happening to the environment, get involved, tell your mom you want to recycle, tell your dad you want to garden, conserve energy and water, when you get older join clubs, raise awareness, go off to college and participate in demonstrations, but if you’re worried that’s a good thing, it means you’re aware, if you weren’t worried then there might be something wrong, and never pass on a chance to get the most out of your life.” She didn’t necessarily like my answer. She wanted me to tell her no, that the world will not end, but at least now she is recycling and she’s writing letters to her principle and people higher up in her School district to try and get them to fund events and campaigns to get other kids motivated to change the ways they look at the environment and there part in it.

I tell her the world can change…every little precocious kid at a time.