Paulo Coelho and Murpyh's Law

“If anything can go wrong, then it will”…Murphy’s Law

Paulo Coelho wrote in his book, “Like the Flowing River” about the piece of bread that fell wrong side up. It is thought by some people that when there is a possibility for something to go wrong, then it does. So bread always falls on the floor on its buttered side.

In the story Coelho mentions, a man was eating his breakfast, so he prepares his bread by spreading the butter on one of its sides, suddenly the bread falls on the floor, he looks down and surprisingly the butter side is up. He thinks he witnessed a miracle, so he tells everybody about it.

The people start telling him that he may be a saint, that it was a sign from God. This accident then becomes the only discussion in the village. Since they couldn’t bring any answer for this miracle, they decide to go and ask the teacher of the village. There, he asks them for time to pray and ask for divine’s inspiration. The next day they come to him with eager for the answer. “It’s quite simple” says the teacher, “The fact is that the piece of bread fell exactly the way it should, but the butter had been spread on the wrong side”.

I was never a fan of this theory (not Law), I never believed in it because it somehow asks the human not to take the risk in anything, anyway I think it never applied to me; things go the way they are supposed to, sometimes right, sometimes wrong.

Coelho have tried here to show that people tend to think that they do not deserve good things, maybe because they are sinners, and this is somehow true for believers, when I make a sin (or a mistake) I start waiting for the punishment, but sometimes it comes, and sometimes it doesn’t. Anyway risks should be taken in this life, to make it move and change. If you are afraid of failure then here is a hint; spread the butter on the wrong side of the bread.