I have, in the past, written about the importance of taking time away to enjoy the important things in life, like Baseball’s Opening Day.  With this important day falling the Monday after Easter this year, I thought I would share one of the feelings common among baseball fans this week…

Hope.

Ask any baseball fan, at least those that don’t cheer for the Pirates, and they will tell you why this year their team has a chance.

I have a colleague who loves the Orioles.  He is excited about his team’s prospects.  Forget the fact that the two most picked teams for the playoffs are the Yankees and the Red Sox are both in the division.  Forget the fact that they haven’t had a winning season since 1997.  He still has hope.  There are some exciting young players playing for the Orioles this year, but realistically, it isn’t going to happen.

But for the next two months, he will think it is possible, and defend his team’s honor.

Like Easter does for the Christian faith, Opening Day is a rebirth for the baseball fan.  It is a new lease on life and a chance to believe in the impossible, or at least, the highly improbable.

So like I do every year, I am going to spend Opening Day watching the full slate of games with friends and family.  It is the beginning of a new season and a fresh start.

I’ll watch my Braves begin their quest for another Division Championship

This is the year. I know it.