After a weekend of frenetic activity (housecleaning, grocery shopping, paper-grading, thesis reading), I settled in Sunday evening for my weekly ration of “Mr. Selfridge” on PBS. I love programs that entertain and educate simultaneously!

While this episode wasn’t one of the better ones in my opinion, it still got me thinking about “life” and all its wonderfully mysterious surprises.

The major take-away for me this time was Harry Gordon Selfridge’s (my interpretation) zest for living in the moment…with an eye always on the future.

I also realized that his approach to life was very much my own…each day is precious and should be cherished for all its challenges and opportunities…but you have to also be thinking about tomorrow and asking yourself “Am I ready?”

I’m always interested in how my students…particularly my undergrad students at Curry College, where I head the Public Relations Concentration and teach most of the PR courses, but also my graduate students at Regis College, where I teach part-time in the Organizational and Professional Communication area…approach this issue.

The grad students, for the most part, have wrapped their mental “arms” around it. After all, most of them are already out in the “real world” and have run into “life” as they’ve embarked on their own careers.

But the undergrad folks…well, for most that’s a whole ‘nother game…unfamiliar and a bit daunting…as it should be.

And that’s one thing I try to pass on both in the classroom and in out-of-class encounters…“Live for today.”

Enjoy all that life, school, friends, family, and everything in between have to offer. Take comfort in the knowledge that you are blessed with opportunities…and challenges…that will strengthen you, educate you, reward you, and…yes…disappoint you.

As a very wise salesman once told my wife in the course of a discussion about the purchase of a lamp (in which she saw some flaws), “Nothing’s perfect, little girl.”

The important lesson is that every experience…every opportunity…every up…every down…is a step toward your future.

But you have to realize that the future starts today, and everything you do today prepares you for tomorrow. Are you ready?

“And many a broken heart is here and many a broken head;
But tomorrow,
By the living God, we’ll try the game again!”
John Masefield, “Tomorrow”