Catching Life’s Currents/Guidepost One: The Power of Cause and Effect

(Paid Subscribers Only) Understand how your choices and circumstances interact to create outcomes. Seeing this clearly gives you space to predict, explain, and influence what happens in your life.

This week we wade into Guidepost One — the Power of Cause and Effect. It's the anchor of everything that follows, and once you start seeing the world through its lens, you'll never quite see it the same way again. You'll begin to see problems in a new light, anticipate what might happen, and thoughtfully influence the world around you — making those quick-fix, band-aid solutions completely unnecessary.

As you get to know me over the next fourteen weeks, you’ll soon discover that I like to begin every lesson with a story… and every story needs a starting point. Ours begins on a rainy afternoon in Hawaii — with strawberries, brownies, and a very unexpected visit…

I was lounging in my thinking-chair on Miss Lynn’s back deck, rocking quietly, basking in the taste that the strawberries and brownies had left on my tongue. The downpour had become a drizzle — the kind my granddad used to call liquid sunshine. Miss Lynn had gone inside. I closed my eyes and was on the edge of sleep when I heard a shrill horn near my ear.

My eyes flew open and there they were — standing in the rain at the foot of the porch stairs. One body. Two heads. Both heads wearing those ridiculous pointed party hats. Both holding paper horns. Their guilty grins explained everything.

The left head looked mostly male — rounded face, relaxed brow, hat leaning slightly askew. The right head looked mostly female — quieter, but sharper. Her eyes moved carefully, seeming to listen even when no one was speaking. They were Cause and Effect, and they had come to answer my questions…

“Because, of course, we’re the first Guidepost for a very good reason…” Cause paused to give his next words emphasis.

“And that is?” I prompted, controlling my fidgets.

Effect took over, “… Because without us, the other Guideposts would have no effect.”

“You see,” Cause rushed on. “We’re the anchor, the structure, the cycle if you will. We connect everything together—the beginning to the end, the alpha to the omega, the…, action to the reaction… the… the…” The thumb of his hand began rubbing the palm of hers in a nervous little rhythm. He was definitely struggling to find words that could explain the unexplainable.

Effect gently pulled her hand away from his rotating thumb, and poked him in the ribs. “Perhaps an example is in order,” she suggested.

“Ah yes,” he relaxed at once. “An example would work best.”

“Perhaps the rain,” she nodded towards the yard.

“Yes,” he smiled as if he’d glimpsed the sun peeking through the clouds. “A simple chain. Water warms. Turns to vapor. Rises. Cools. Condenses around airborne particles. When the droplets grow heavy enough…”

“… They fall and the world below is nourished,” she turned towards me—her eyes a liquid amber. “You see, we’re what makes rain possible.”

“And it’s by understanding our relationship with one another….”

“…. That individuals are able to predict, explain, and even influence outcomes.”

“So,” I began speaking aloud, so I could organize my thought. “If I’m getting this right, you’re like the relationship between an event and whatever caused the event?”

Cause slapped his knee, “Exactly,” he exclaimed, delighted. “Miss Lynn was right to graduate you.”

“But,” I hesitated. “In Miss Lynn’s book, you described yourself as a tool that people could use.”

“Or not use, as the case may be,” Effect enthusiastically agreed. “Knowing the relationship between events and their causes is what turns us into a kind of tool. Like with the rain—the cycle of sunshine, evaporation, cooling, condensing, falling. Within the knowledge of that cycle lies the power to predict the weather.”

“I can see that,” I offered softly. “But how do the other Guideposts fit into the cycle?”

“Ah, the others,” Cause mused, chin tilted up, lips pursed. “The other Guideposts tend to be causes in and of themselves. They dip their toe in the ripples, and the ripples change, becoming more—and less—predictable…”

“… Consider the rain again, and two mothers,” Effect leaned forward. “The rain itself is a fact. Nobody is going to argue that rain is falling when they’re getting wet…”

“… But what the two mothers make of that fact—now, that they may argue about, as a consequence of their beliefs,” Cause continued. “One mother has been taught that getting caught out in the rain will bring on a cold. The other mother has been taught that walking, jumping, dancing, even singing in the rain is one of the great joys of life. Same rain…”

“… Different outcomes because Belief has put her toe in the water.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “One mom will yell for her kids to come inside, while the other mom will join her kids in jumping through the puddles.”

“And the children will grow up in two completely different realities,” Effect added softly.

Her partner nodded solemnly, sighing, “All caused by Belief.”

“Yeah, I definitely can see that,” I smiled, amazed that I could smile at all. Somehow during our chat, their visit had begun to feel normal—even inevitable. “And the other Guideposts?” I looked up. “They’re all sort of like Belief… They put their toes into the river and change the currents?”

“Yes,” they both nodded happily.

“And,” Cause raised a finger to his nose and gave it a tap. “Once you understand the nature of those toes, and how they each affect the current…”

“… You will be able to predict, explain, and even influence the outcomes in your future…”

Source: When the Guides Became Mine: 14 Encounters on the Way to Wisdom, Chapter One, Lynn Marie Sager, 2026

And that, in a nutshell, explains why Cause and Effect is the first of the Guideposts. Everything else builds on it. Every other Guidepost is simply another toe in the water — another cause that changes the current.

So let’s look at how to bring our story down to earth…

Why Cause and Effect is so Powerful

Noticing cause and effect gives you agency and clarity. If you only notice effects—the outcomes, the problems, the results—you’re stuck reacting to the world as if it’s random. But when you trace back to causes, you can see what’s actually driving the outcomes. That insight allows you to act strategically, predict outcomes, break unproductive cycles, appreciate complexity, and grow personally. In short: noticing cause and effect turns you from a passive observer into an active participant.

In this lesson we will:

• Explore how Cause and Effect works as both a diagnostic tool and a practice of wonder

• Peel back the layers of a complex human system to see how causes stack upon causes

• Discover why changing your presentation matters more than repeating it

• Redefine what a problem actually is — and free ourselves from the ones we can’t solve

• Practice the Amazement Journal — this week’s homework

---

The full lesson is only available to paid subscribers, private one-on-one learners, and groups taking Catching Life’s Currents: A 14-Week Guideposts Journey. If you would like to learn more, click here.