The burnt toast theory

A piece of burnt toast might save your life. This is the burnt toast theory. 

Let's say you are making toast for breakfast in the morning, for example, but burn it to the point it is inedible. So, you have to spend another five minutes making a new piece. You are now running a bit late for work or school now, so decide to use a different route on the way there to try and save time. You finally arrive to your destination; annoyed and in a bad mood because of a piece of burnt toast. You turn on the radio or are scrolling through the news and realise there was a car crash, on the same road you usually use to go to work. And it happened at the same time you were making the new piece of toast. If you had not burnt your toast that morning, that person in the car crash could've been you.

This theory doesn't just have to be saving your life either. What if when you enter a coffee shop to get your daily coffee order, and the barista spills your coffee and has to remake it. That extra couple of minutes kept you waiting in the shop, long enough for an old friend to walk in. If that barista hadn't spilled your coffee, you would have left the shop a few minutes earlier and not had the chance to catch up with an old friend.

I read about this theory in an article the other day, and I have been thinking about it ever since. By twisting a little annoying event that happened in your day to be the thing that saved your life, it has helped me not let little unexpected events that are out of my control, like a piece of burnt toast, set the tone for the rest of your day. Accepting these little interruptions as happy accidents can make you feel more grounded and at peace. Even if there's no way to prove that a piece of burnt toast saved your life, it is one way to look at life a bit more optimistically. Have a more positive outlook on life and try to not let burnt pieces of toast ruin the rest of your day.