There was an old proverb which said that misfortune weighs most heavily on those who expect nothing but good fortune. To avoid such misfortune ancient people offered a simple technique, called negative visualization. The idea of this technique was that by contemplating the bad things that may happen to us in the future, we will lessen their impact on us when, despite our efforts at prevention, they happen.

Part of the point of this psychological technique was to get us to appreciate and take full advantage of the present moments we have, because, at some point, things may not turn out the way we wish and everything we value may be taken away from us.

Unfortunately the ancients weren’t thinking about Canadian fans and Team Canada. Even if we prepare for the worst by imagining something less than a gold medal and in doing so simply learn to love the team for itself and appreciate its journey, this will do nothing to lessen the potential impact of defeat.

It doesn’t matter how much we learn to love this team – if they don’t win gold, calamity and considerable distress is unavoidable.