IT'S OFFICIAL: I am more scared now than I was this time last year.

Fear, it seems, is stalking me at every turn and if it goes on like this I might as well not go out at all in 2005.

Surveys tell me everything I need to know, and everything just doesn't make sense.

Terrorist threats, health scares, road rage, violent crime, people going missing, interest rates, petrol prices - the list goes on.

I haven't even mentioned the new reality TV show featuring plastic surgery on pets.

I don't know who to believe or trust any more. I am told terrorism is the new world enemy and we must stand united against those taking away our freedoms.

For instance I could have a terrorist living next door to me and I wouldn't know it until the boys in blue came to my rescue. God bless the MI5 and the police who can arrest me and lock me up for my own safety because they want to.

I want to lose weight but I'm not even fat. I want to stop polluting the earth and walk to work but it's far too cold.

The rays from the sun are harming me and that hole in the sky just seems to be getting bigger. We need to stop using deodorants otherwise we'll live to regret it.

Is it safe to shop on the internet yet? What about the high street?

My personal details are being sold somewhere across the world and there's nothing I can do about it.

I can say what I want but I still don't know what I'm not allowed to say.

Television feeds me lies, lies and more lies but there's nothing else to watch.

My mobile phone is going to make me ill and if I eat too much fast food my heart will clog up.

In the event of an emergency I should know exactly what to do because we've planned for it. I don't remember any training courses do you?

I believe but apparently no one else does. People who believe in God are now in a minority according to a new national survey. Where does that leave me?

If I don't save any money now will I be poor when I am old? What if I don't make it till I'm old?

I can't do anything without thinking of putting a claim in first.

If I catch a burglar in the act in my own home what am I supposed to do? Do I subdue him with 'reasonable force' or make him a cup of tea?

I want to make a new start but they are telling me that only half of Britons will keep their new year's resolution. What if I'm that half?