By Robyn Young

I saw a comic in the paper a few weeks ago. It showed a delinquent-looking teen standing in a school hallway, eyeing the “in case of fire” alarm next to him. In the next frame, he pulls it. Then, school security drags him away. Finally, he’s sitting in the principal’s office, saying to another student, “I’m the kind of person stuff just happens to.”

We may feel like life is just happening to us sometimes, but the truth is—every effect in our lives has a cause. Even our very existence required a cause—something to set creation in motion: "...if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God..." (2 Nephi 11:7).

Nothing happens by accident. Every circumstance is the result of a cause. The exciting part? We actually have far more influence over the effects in our lives than we might think. By understanding the Law of Cause and Effect, we can choose to become the cause of more good showing up in our lives.

It starts with identifying the result we want. When we create a clear picture in our minds of what we desire, we have something to work toward. That mental image alone is a cause—focused attention on an outcome initiates changes that begin to bring it into form (that’s the Law of Perpetual Transmutation). But it doesn’t stop there.

Let’s say you want to eat at a nice restaurant across town. You’re in your car, visualizing the restaurant, feeling hungry, and grateful for the experience you’re about to have. You’ve aligned your mindset—but if you don’t turn the key in the ignition and go, that meal’s not going to happen. Even if someone else drives you there and orders for you, you still have to open your mouth to enjoy the food.

"Whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap" (D&C 6:33). Our thoughts lead to our actions, and our actions produce our results. Planting good seeds—choosing positive, intentional thoughts—is vital. But it's our actions, the follow-through, that bring those seeds to life.

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