As the weather warms up and signs of spring are on the horizon, I can’t help but feel excited as the seasons change.  The coming spring means new life, new growth, and new hope.  In the natural it means that there will be more sunshine, greener grass, leaves on the trees, and birds returning from their winter break with new songs on their beaks.  Metaphorically speaking, this spring represents a new season of my life where I’ve decided to press toward goals that I’ve dreamed about for years.

To me, though, it also means one more thing:  Baseball is beginning again.

One of my favorite days every year is Opening Day for Major League Baseball.  For some reason on Opening Day the air feels a little bit crisper and the atmosphere buzzes with an electric excitement!  Every year on that day there’s always an extra little hop to my step as I struggle to concentrate on my day’s tasks, wishing I was at a major league stadium instead of at a desk.  Most of my mental energy on that day goes toward day dreaming about the possibilities for my team that season.

The reason Opening Day is so important to me is because it represents hope.  Just like spring, it represents new beginnings!  It’s a day where every team is on equal footing.  Every team has the same opportunity to win it all no matter how badly they played the previous season or how poorly they’re expected to perform this season.  Opening Day is a day of possibilities!  If my team wins on Opening Day, I wonder how long of a winning streak they can start the season with.  If they lose, I shrug and think: Well, there are still 161 games out there for them to win.

Having grown up in New Jersey under the shadow of New York City, I’ve always been a New York Mets fan.  I’m old enough to have been alive the last time the Mets won the World Series, but all I actually remember about it was that I watched it in the basement with my dad, brother, and sister.  The Mets were down 3 games to 2 in the Series, and on the brink of losing Game 6.  I was really young and it looked like the Mets were going to lose, so my dad sent me to bed before the game ended.  I fell asleep that night thinking my favorite team in the world had lost the World Series.

When I got up the next morning and asked my dad how the game ended, his excitement was palpable.  He was giddy as he explained how the Red Sox imploded on defense and the Mets pulled off the unbelievable win.  The following day my Mets won it all and Mets fans everywhere exulted in joy.

I didn’t realize at the time that it would be at least another 32 years until the Mets would win the Worlds Series again.  I also didn’t realize that being a Mets fan meant I was setting myself up for decades of misery and heartache as I watched my team go through a cycle of the sweetest of high moments followed by years of the most stomach-churning of lows.

Life as a Mets fan required devotion and persistent loyalty, particularly in the past decade.  It was hard, and fan attrition was rampant.  But for those of us who stuck with it, there was always one thing that kept us holding on:  the hope that the Mets would finally win the World Series again.

It almost happened 3 years ago.  In 2015, the Mets turned a mediocre season around and made it all the way to the World Series before ultimately falling to the Royals.  Then when 2016 appeared to be lost due to injuries, they turned the season around again and somehow managed to claw their way back into the playoffs.

And then Opening Day for the 2017 season came.  After 2 seasons in a row of making the playoffs, the sense of expectation from both the Mets and their fans was clear.  There was a sense of wonder and excitement as we all thought about what could happen!  All the Mets’ meticulous planning was coming to a head, and every Mets fan knew we only needed a few things to go right for a magical season to take place.  It was “World Champions or Bust!”

Unfortunately as the season played out, it became crystal clear that 2017 was not the Mets’ year as they seemingly accumulated more injuries than wins.  But despite all the adversity they’ve faced, and even though they didn’t realize their dreams that year, the long marathon of the season was worth it.

Why?  Because by the time the last pitch of 2017 was thrown, the men who played for the Mets that year all did something that far too many people in this world fail to do:  they chased after their dreams!

I recognize that most people reading this blog couldn’t give a flying flip about my beloved Mets.  So why bother mentioning them at all?  I bring them up because the Mets’ struggles in pursuit of their dreams are a perfect illustration of not only my life, but the lives of so many others—and quite possibly yours as well.

Just like the Mets, there are dreams I’m chasing after with all my heart.  My life goal is to become a full-time, published novelist.  The process of completing my first novel, while tedious and frustrating some of the time, was one of the most fun, cathartic, fulfilling, and eye-opening experiences of my life.  I created a vibrant world, a compelling story, and characters so deep that I fell completely in love with them.  And in doing so, I found my purpose and became far more aware of myself than I had ever been before.

From a career perspective, I crave spending the rest of my life building upon that world, that story, and those characters; as well as creating many more.

Much more importantly than that, though, my ultimate goal is to impact and bring hope to as many people as my sphere of influence will stretch to cover.  The story I have to share is crucial—life-bringing and soul-piercing—and I need to share that story with the world!  My story is one of hope and life and, regardless of your faith or belief system, every person in the world needs hope and life.

Just like the Mets’ dream of winning their 3^rd World Championship, my dream hasn’t come to pass yet.  And just like the Mets, I’ve had far more setbacks, failures, and soul-devastating struggles along the way than I can count.  There have been obstacles and heartaches that tried to butcher my dream before my eyes, and countless distractions that tried to turn me away from my relentless pursuit.  But also just like the Mets, I’ve held on and kept pushing forward even when it felt like it was utter madness to keep going on.

The reason I held on is simple.  My dream is God-breathed!  He gave me my message.  He gave me my story and purpose.  And while the dream He gave me is so much bigger than I ever imagined possible, He burned it so deep within my spirit that I have no choice but to go for it with everything I have.  And along the way, I’ll continue to take every step I can to learn, grow, and become the best novelist I can possibly be.

In a sense this blog post is my own personal Opening Day.  This is my first real step into public view, my first time really opening myself up to the world.  It’s a risk, and I feel exposed and uncomfortable.  But it’s a risk I have to make because I’ll never realize my dreams if I’m too afraid to step out into the world and make myself known.

So this is a shot across the bow of my fear.  It’s my declaration to the world that I’m serious about going after these dreams.  It’s my declaration to God that I believe in the promises He’s given me so much that I’m going to do whatever is required to chase after them with Him.  And finally it’s my declaration to myself that I am able to do what God called me to do, that fear is stupid and not worth the attention I’ve given it, and that pursuing my dreams is far more fulfilling than sitting at home or work thinking about them but not acting on them—or worse, letting them die.

Some of you reading this are in the same boat as me.  You have a God-given dream that burns deep inside of you.  You haven’t succeeded yet, but you haven’t given up either.  To you I say keep going, keep trying, keep learning, and keep growing!  Never stop chasing your dream!  Don’t give up!  I know it can be excruciating at times, but hold on and keep fighting!  If your first thousand attempts haven’t gotten you there, then try a thousand and one, then a thousand and two.  However many tries it takes, take them.  I believe in you!

There are many of you, though, who’ve given up.  For whatever reason—time, poor decisions, heartache and loss, failures, mistakes you’ve made, or simply life getting in the way—you believe your dreams have died.  If that’s where you are, I’m here to tell you there’s still hope.  I happen to know someone who specializes in bringing dead things back to life!  He’s the Dream Maker, the Dream Restorer!  He’s the one who breathed life into your dreams in the first place, and He believes in you far more than you know!  Whether you believe in Him or not, my prayer for you is that you will ask Him to breathe new life into your dreams.

The fact of the matter is that there are too many people in this world who are living lives filled with broken or dead dreams.  They’ve given up on ever finding their purpose, and just settled for mere survival.  They’ve lost hope that their lives will ever amount to anything beyond themselves.  If that’s where you are, I’ve been there.

You’re the reason I wrote my novel, The Dream Chronicles: Desperation.  You’re the reason this blog exists.  You’re the reason I’m stepping way out of my comfort zone and placing myself out there for the world to see.  And you’re the reason I’ll keep writing to encourage you and spur you on.  You were never built to simply live life without purpose.  You were designed to be dream chasers just like me!

This blog is the next step in me pursuing my dreams of becoming a full-time, published novelist and changing lives around the world.  As stated before, it’s uncomfortable and grates against my personality.  But my dream is worth it.  The worst thing I can do is give up now!  I’m shooting for the moon!  Even if I miss, there’s still a decent chance I wind up in orbit.

Will this blog be successful?  Will my novel become published?  Will my God-given dreams come true?  I certainly believe so!  But even if I fall flat on my face, fail to get published, and make a public humiliation of myself while pursuing my dreams, so long as there is breath in my lungs, there is still always next season to try again.

And so I challenge you!  Take a moment to think about the hopes and dreams you’ve given up on.  Ask God if those dreams are truly dead.  Even if you don’t believe in Him, ask Him to breathe new life into those dreams.  Then take the uncomfortable next step and dare to dream again!  Let today be your Opening Day!