There are times in our lives when we are able to complete a lifelong dream. A moment that we strive for, wish for, work for, pray for, or hope for that when it takes place the sense of excitement is beyond words. some our goals that are within our own power to achieve while others require a bit more star alignment. I recently was able to do something that I had dreamed about for years and will never forget.  Baseball has always been a part of my life from the days of Tee-ball and travel league to College and the adult wood bat team I play on today. Living in Ohio I grew up an Indians fan and am still to this day regardless of the level of winning or some of the heartache that comes with them. So to be able to throw out an opening pitch has been on my list of things to do in life for as long as I have had a list (it was right after “Be on SNL”.

On June 17th I am happy and proud to say that I was able to mark that off my list.

Of course, you can’t see the ball cause I am just throwing it so fast the camera could not pick it up. It was a strike so I am happy about that. So no matter what your dreams or goals are just keep plugging away and you never know when they might happen.

I was watching the movie “Serendipity” the other day (something my girlfriend and I could watch together-not sports and not Kardashians) and if you have never seen it I’ll spoil it for you. Boy meets girl for a few hours and they have magic moment. Rather than exchange numbers (of course pre-cellphone days) they wrote their info on a $5 bill and inside a book with the thought being if “fate” would have it, one of them would find the other person’s item and they would know that “fate” meant for them to be together. The rest of the movie is them living out their lives but always wondering if they missed out and desperately seeking the contact info other of the other (too bad facebook wasn’t around yet). Of course as only Hollywood can they, shockingly, finally find each other at the end of the movie after each breaks off their engagement (one moments before the wedding) and of course we are to believe they live happily every after. It’s a romantic movie and the restaurant it’s names after has a line out they door when you visit it in NY.

It’s a cute and loving movie that is supposed to warm out hearts and remind us that fate always has our best interests at heart. Or does it?

Here’s the problem with fate-you can’t rely on it. No matter what you believe or how you think life works out fate has no more influence over your life then me blowing on a candle does on the winds over the Sahara Desert. What fate does for many is create a stop-freeze on action.

What you get in life will be a result of what you go after. Not what fate has in store. Are there forces in play outside of your control? Of course. Is there a chance that what you are going after is not what you’ll get? Sure. But you’re  guaranteed  you won’t get what you if you don’t at least go after it. You have to play the lottery to win.

Fate sometimes can be a calming factor to us when things are not going well or when something really bad happens. It can be a great coping mechanism. Just don’t let fate be the determining factor in your life. You are the determining factor.