On a daily basis, bad things happen to us, on both large scales and small. You’re late for a meeting or you fail an exam. Your friend drops you completely without a word spoken and you can’t seem to avoid running into your ex-partner.
Though it’s human instinct to dread all of these inconveniences, there’s an important question to answer: what if this is supposed to happen?
The Theory
The “burnt toast” theory is a reference to the scenario in which an individual is making breakfast in the morning and they burn their toast. This person might be frustrated, having to remake breakfast and run late to work or school.
Though this might seem strange, in a broader sense, that person was supposed to burn their toast. In the time it took for them to remake breakfast, they could have missed a car accident. The delay to work may have allowed you to cross paths with a new friend.
The theory explains that what seems like a setback is actually meant to happen. Everything is planned accordingly in your life.
For The Better
Though this concept might seem overwhelming, it’s actually a reminder to trust the process and embrace the hardships.
It’s normal to feel suffocated or under pressure as a student. Conflict ebbs and flows and we’re forced to adapt to difficult positions in life, no matter how big or small. Though we try our best to stick to a routine, inconveniences seem like bulldozers in our perfectly tailored schedule.
The burnt toast theory allows you to take a moment and think. Read that again.
These incidents don’t define your day or your week. Your life is still on track and everything is bound to fall into place. The burnt toast theory helps us distinguish what is important and what’s not, what could or could not happen.
If you passed that exam, you never would have had the motivation to study and ace the next one. If your friend never stopped talking to you, you would never have decided to get closer with the girl living in the room next to yours. The reason you’re not finding a boyfriend right now is because the right person is waiting to cross paths with you.
Mistakes are bound to happen. Failures, heartbreak and bad things in general build our resilience in life. It’s how you pause to recognize these bad things that make our lives all the better.
Tweet us at @VALLEYmag about how you’ve applied the burnt toast theory to your life!
