To what fortuitous occurrence do we not owe every pleasure and convenience of our lives.

Trace back anything good in your life and you arrive at an accident. The meeting that led to the work, the remark that changed your mind, the place you happened to be living. Effort mattered, and it was applied to opportunities you did not arrange, which is worth remembering when you congratulate yourself and when you judge somebody who had fewer.

Pick one good thing you have and follow the chain back to the chance event that started it. The exercise takes five minutes and tends to leave people more grateful and more generous. Then go somewhere slightly outside your usual circuit, since that is where such accidents happen.