Today's advice: have negative thoughts to avoid disappointment

I have spent a good deal of my very long life nearly 'making it'. My fortune that is. And for 'nearly' you could substitute 'not'. Not making it. However, the trying to make it has been wonderful, adding a zest to life that can only normally be obtained by a triple espresso or sex.

At eighteen I bought a rusty old bike and spent hours rubbing it down and doing it up but ended up getting rid of it at a loss. I'd like to say that at that age it was the same with boyfriends but I never did any rubbing down or doing up so that may have constituted a problem.

At nineteen I bought an Adana printing set and spent night after night dreaming of the printing factory I would eventually own. But my cousin 'borrowed' it and then had the nerve to send me a Christmas card printed with it, a fact that still rankles with Mr A all these years on!

Today, I am waiting with bated breath, but no hope, to hear whether I have won a writing competition, the closing date for entries being yesterday. I imagine the judges mulling over which one is best, mine or another. And, although hope flutters in my breast, I make myself believe it is 'another'. because I think the power of positive thought is all hokum and that it is best to be prepared for the worst and absolutely amazed by the best. Those are my words of wisdom for today. Think negative.