Author Archives: Frank Borelli

Circles and Lines

Is life a circle? Or is it a line? Does it matter? Why even think about it? Just recently I ran across some memes that had me wondering about the mindset they presuppose and the overall tone, be it positive, negative or somewhat neutral. They started me thinking about Body’s Cycle – the humane decision making cycle taught to many (if not all) combatants. The cycle is a four step repeating process wherein your observe your surroundings, orient yourself to the situation, make a decision and then act upon that decision. Your action causes a change so you have to start over with observing the change and so on. These cycles are often referred to as “OODA Loops” (said “u-dah loop”). They are circular and repeating. They are also usually applied only to compressed time frames such as competitions and conflict where your actions have to happen fast… fast enough to get ahead of your opponent’s OODA Loops and emerge victories. Can the same thing be said on a grander scale about life? Continue reading →

Who Thanks The Coaches?

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As this is being written, the author is sitting comfortably inside on a Sunday morning. It’s 85F outside but about 70F inside. Yesterday, a Saturday, the temperatures reached 99F with a “real feel” of over 110F. Early yesterday morning there were a few boys and girls club sports teams practicing and every coach, every parent was keeping a close eye out to make sure none of the kids got dehydrated or suffered a heat related injury. The parents were under their easy-up awnings and drinking ice-cold bottles of water from coolers. The kids were drinking every 15 minutes (roughly). The coaches? Drank when they could get the necessary 30 seconds as they coached, answered questions, moved equipment and more. At the end of one practice, the coach thanked every player for showing up and working hard. He thanked the parents for getting up early to bring the kids for practice. One parent… ONE parent returned the thanks, appreciating the coach’s dedicated and willingness to get up early, work in the heat, and add value to the children’s lives. One… Continue reading →

Ten Leadership Lessons from Jeff Bezos

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Why would anyone want to learn anything from Jeff Bezos? Who is this guy and what makes his leadership lessons of any value? Jeff Bezos is the founder, chairman, CEO and president of Amazon.com, Inc. At the age of 55 (as this is written) he has a reported net worth of just under $165 Billion. For those of us who remember the world before Amazon.com, its introduction and its growth, it’s obvious that whoever was at the helm knew what he was doing. He had a vision and goals and he strategically pursued them. We can assume there were challenges but we can readily see the success. Continue reading →

Age and Assumptions

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Most of my readership knows I’ve written before about how age is simply a number. All too often people seem to carry beliefs that some capabilities and disabilities accompany certain ages. We expect children to start walking at a certain age, give or take a month. We expect them to start talking (coherently) at a certain age, give or take a couple months. Their ability to walk is followed by run, climb, etc. But what happens when we get older? A lot of people seem to believe that with age inevitably comes infirmity. That is one assumption I wish to challenge. The other is that “age” looks a certain way. Do we have to “look old?” Continue reading →

NEVER Too Old

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What is it with people and bucket lists? I mean, I get it. Sure. You make this list of things you want to do before you die. You make a list of experiences you want to have, places you want to go, etc. I get it. But here’s my question: When do you actually start doing those things? At what point does your “bucket list” become your “to do list” for the week, month or year? What is everyone waiting for that they have this bucket list? It seems odd to me that some folks feel they have to wait until they are “old enough” to start checking items off their bucket list. Other folks apparently reach a point where they feel they are “too old” to pursue some items on their bucket list. This dichotomy confuses me. Just think about it: You’re creating a list of things to do when you get the chance and then you’re too old to do everything on the list. WTF? Continue reading →

Be Your Own Author – Again

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You know (literally, many of you know) I love to write. Even as a young boy in my preteen years I enjoyed writing. I realized way back then that I could write anything I could imagine and my writing had to be sufficiently articulate to describe what I was imagining; detailed enough to insure that someone reading it could see in their mind exactly what I was seeing in mine as I wrote it down. I’ve published several books now and very few of them were fiction – and the fiction ones were actually the harder books to write. I have several fiction works in the process now and, oh my goodness but they are a great challenge. For all that, perhaps the biggest writing challenge of all is the one you write as you live your life; it’s the story of your life and you are absolutely the author. But as any writer knows, the author isn’t the only one impacting the story. Continue reading →

Are You Too Private?

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Or not private enough?

“Don’t air your dirty laundry in public.” It’s an old and wise saying. When there are problems at home, at work, at school, in a friendship, whatever – it’s not usually a good idea to just share those problems willy-nilly with anyone who will stand still long enough to listen. While that’s true, the lesson is all too often misapplied. It doesn’t mean you should NEVER talk to anyone about those things; it means you should be selective. Here’s what I mean. Continue reading →

The Best Defensive Handgun

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On any given day, you can find several dozen (or more) articles about Every Day Carry weapons, accessories, strategies, methods of carry and more. Just as likely is your ability to search the Internet for specifics of a “perfect defensive handgun” and get about a million hits. The recommendations would span a large variety of weapons and calibers, function types, barrel lengths and more. You’d probably find a wide variety of advice on what kind of holster you should use and what kind of sights are best. Beyond what caliber you should be carrying you’ll also find specific recommendations on the best cartridge to use for self-defense to include bullet type, metallurgy and more other info than you can ever assimilate unless you’re a professional shootist who lives for this exactly type of trivia. Continue reading →

Cigar Box Survival Cache

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You only have to take a quick look around the Internet looking for “survival kit” and you’ll get inundated with options that range from small packs sized to fit in your pocket to trailers you tow behind your vehicle. What you may not realize is that they all (if they’re any good) provide solutions for just a few basic needs: Continue reading →

What If The Future of Weapons Changed?

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For as far back as I can remember, as a police officer and as a member of the media, some government official or another has been calling for a ban on “assault weapons.” Sometimes those “assault weapons” are AR-style rifles, and sometimes they are “high capacity” polymer framed handguns. Not long ago, a man even more veteran than myself in law enforcement postulated a question: if AR-style rifles were banned tomorrow, what would you be carrying instead? If polymer framed handguns were banned tomorrow, what would you be carrying instead? The questions caused quite a stir of curiosity and I had to pass those questions on. Thankfully, in my line of work I can get responses from some true experts in the field. Continue reading →