Today, I was prepared to write about one of my favorite films, “Life Is Beautiful” and extract lessons on imaginative resistance and giving when you have nothing to give and … yada yada yada.

But I have much better pressing news: my tutee Thurgood, (who’ve I written about before) was placed in Advanced Math today. That’s right folks – the hours of gruesome multiplication flashcard wars have paid off. I couldn’t be happier for the little guy. He could not stop smiling today as he carried his sharpened pencil to his new tutor – the woman at school who helps The Smart Kids. For the next math unit, I am out of work as a tutor!

I guess the lesson I am taking today is that life exists for you as you imagine it. If your father tells you that you are playing a game and competing for a tank, you become oblivious that you are living in a concentration camp. If you start believing you are smart, suddenly you are working with The Smart Kids teacher. The power of imagination is profound: start seeing and living your life as you imagine you want it to be, and suddenly, you find that you are in the midst of it.

For Thurgood and Roberto Benigni, who illuminated that power for me, I am very grateful.