The price of your Halloween jack-o-lantern just went up. So did the tab for your Thanksgiving and Christmas pumpkin pie.

That’s because Hurricane Irene wiped out hundreds of pumpkin patches in the northeastern states.

No one (except the pumpkin farmers and distributors) thought much about pumpkins when Irene was causing massive flood damage. There were bigger things to worry about.

But now that the immediate storm has passed, we are seeing the subtle effects of nature’s fury. And a pumpkin shortage is one of them.

It’s a reminder that we live in a world of cause and effect. The things that you think, say and do really matter. Even if you’re not paying attention, these things have consequences down the road.

Take a baseball player’s hitting slump. It’s often the result of a flaw that has gradually slipped into the swing. This flaw may not show up until long after it begins. That’s why you must pay close attention to details.

Dr. Carl McGown, an internationally respected volleyball coach, says, “There are no little things.”

There is even a term for this. It’s called “The Butterfly Effect.” It means that the flap of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the world can affect a hurricane on the other.

And long before “The Butterfly Effect,” there was Sir Isaac Newton saying that every point mass in the universe affects every other point mass.

So whether you’re talking about pumpkins, butterflies or Newton, you’ve got to be careful about how you flap your wings.

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Mike Tully coaches athletes, businesses and teams on how to improve. You can reach him at (973) 800-5836.