The Burnt Toast Theory

You’ve woken up on time.

Brushed your teeth. Got dressed and ready.

But you smell something burning…

You’ve ruined your breakfast. You’ve burnt your toast. And now you’re late for work.

There’s a blessing to this, however. The amount of time you spent making another piece of toast may have saved you from a bad car accident or incident that could have significantly impacted your life.

This is the Burnt Toast Theory.

I've started reading a book called The Big Questions of Life by Om Swami and I read a concept on pain that really resonated with me:

"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Loss is unavoidable, grief isn’t. Death is certain. And life, well, life isn’t certain. Its uncertainty, unpredictability, even irrationality, make it what it is: worthwhile, a blessing." (p. 7)

You may curse the Gods and think the universe is out to get you every time something bad happens to you.

Trust me, I’ve very much been there.

But as they say, “everything happens for a reason”.

The universe is actually working for you, not against you.

It is always trying to work things out in your best interest. It may be working directly for you – like when you run into an old colleague who happens to have a great job opportunity for you at the very moment you need it most.

Or the universe may be helping in less obvious ways, which often takes the form of misfortune or bad luck.

But that’s how we learn. Adversity is where all growth comes from. We learn invaluable skills and life lessons from harsh times.

If you burn your toast and you're late in the morning, your immediate thought might be that this is going to be a terrible day.

But what if your burnt toast leads to you trying something new for breakfast? What if you get brunch at a new spot that leads to you meeting someone that changes your life?

The universe works in surprising ways, so the burnt toast theory asks you to give the benefit of the doubt and trust the process. Embrace the journey.

The journey is where the true growth comes from anyway, not the destination.

Just because things don’t appear to be going your way, doesn’t mean you should lose faith.

Just keep pluggin’.

You never know what the universe has up its sleeve.

🙇🏻‍♂️🌱 Until Next Time, C.