Mr. Besilly's Blog

About Life

"Life is funny, I’m finally getting the jokes and learning to laugh out-loud." Ray Basile

Life is a four letter word.
Life is what I'm living right now.
Life, worth everything I put into it.
Life is what I wake up for.
Life, one change at a time.
Life, catch up if I start moving too fast for you.
Life, I want more of that.
Life don't fail me now.

Today a friend who works as a life coach lead me in a fun exercise she uses to get a glimpse into a persons belief system. It's a spontaneous way of drawing out how we view life.

Tracing Back Scars

Today I found myself tracing back my scars, recalling the events that left a lasting imprint on my skin, sticking out like a road sign pointing me back to my childhood.

Those of us who grew up with siblings understand the kind of flesh wounds that can be inflicted from the summers of our youth. Each scar carries with it a memory, some memories are painful while others bring back the laughter. Most important are the learned lessons from each scar that I dragged with me into my adult life.

"The most valuable scars I carry are the ones left behind by the errors of my siblings. They will remain for me the most precious of them all." Ray Basile

I Heart The Blogosphere

Taking inspiration from Seth Godin's post entitled Ego, I have chosen to place a handful of my readers front and center on One Man's Highway for a much deserved mention. This is not a ploy coaxing you to stand in the middle of the highway to be splattered by a semi truck. It's my way of expressing appreciation for your valued readership. While I cannot place every reader's name in this post (because I don't have info on who they all are) I can highlight the last 28 blog crawlers that have taken time to leave a comment on one of my posts. An act of kindness that will not go unnoticed. 

My Great Chocolate Typo Disaster

How many websites does it take to spell the word chocolate wrong? The answer is 42,800 according to Google. If you search for dark chocloate you will find 12,000 websites that contain a typo of the word chocolate spelled incorrectly as chocloate. I am sheepishly willing to admit that you will find Mr. Besilly neatly nestled in at number (4) four in those Google search results for dark chocloate. Had I spelled the word correctly in my post back on March 26th, you would have never discovered my article buried somewhere around the eight thousand mark. My misspelling of the word chocolate quickly placed me at the front of the entire cyber classroom with chocloate egg on my face wearing that big pointed cap.

The Emperor's New Robe

I'm certainly not an Emperor, but I do feel like royalty in my new Hotel Living bath robe. I'm wearing it right now as I write this post. Frightened yet? Please indulge me for a brief moment as I pontificate. Twice in the past few months I have had the opportunity to enjoy a day spa experience, once on Valentine's Day which included a hot stone massage (my wife Terri's idea) and the other was on a recent trip to Las Vegas. In Vegas if you want to use the hotel gym expect to pay a premium to use the facility. At Treasure Island the facility is called WET which includes the workout gym along with a day spa, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, fancy showers, fresh smoothies, mini muffins, apples and the use of a plush white spa robe. All this for $22 dollars a visit plus free bottled water. The list actually goes on a bit longer, but why get caught up in the minor details? Here's the real story.

Support Your Local Lemonade Stand

On my way home today I passed my local lemonade stand operated by the neighbor girl at the end of my street. There she was with her best-est friend holding up their big signs, with big smiles and even bigger energy. I was witnessing the American dream in it's most simple form through the efforts of two eight year old girls. The lemonade stand is a classic wage earner for even the youngest entrepreneurs. Topping the list ahead of "raking leaves" and followed by the classic "mowing lawns" work release program. This is the time of year when a lemonade stand can really prosper. Do you support your local lemonade stand? George Clooney does.

A Blowing Bubbles Day

I was returning from an afternoon walk heading down an out of the way trail that passes by a small baseball diamond. I saw children in the distance and I could hear that distinct wall of noise that comes from a little league game. As I glanced over into the tall grass alongside the trail, I was taken by the shining face of a smiling little blonde haired boy that appeared from behind the grass. He could not have been more than two years old. He was wearing the most adorable smile that clearly outweighed his tiny little frame. He had perfect bangs covering his forhead helping to enhance his bright star filled eyes that by now were firmly fixed upon Domino my Jack Russel Terrier. The boy seemed to be moving in slow motion as we passed him by.

Sunshine in a Cup

It's barely detectable that Spring has arrived here in the Northwest if you watch our weather. So every afternoon between 2:30 and 5:30 you will find many Seattle locals headed for their ample dose of sunshine in a cup. It may be Starbucks, Tully's, Cafe Ladro, or Vivace Roasteria it matters not which brand you choose. It's simply the only warmth and comfort a person can find this time of year to replace the sunshine.

My wife has a friend that recently relocated to Seattle from California. It did not take her long to recognize this obvious Northwest phenomenon of sun replacement with a hot cup-a-joe in the late afternoon. I myself am as guilty as the milkman when it comes to grabbing my daily cup of sunshine. I'll have a grande, soy latte for here please.

View Coffee Art

Jumping into a Low Stress Siesta

For the past four years the twelve foot trampoline in our yard has been my favorite location for a peaceful low stress siesta during the warm weather months. It's perfectly placed in a shaded area of our backyard paired with a slight breeze blowing through our willow tree around 4:00 in the afternoon. New research indicates that a short midday snooze is attributed to reducing the risk of fatal heart problems, especially among men. People who took a 30-minute siesta at least 3 times a week had a 37% lower risk of heart disease-related death. This news was particularly exciting for me since I'm a huge advocate for napping as a stress reducer. This new finding brought me almost as much delight as learning about the positive health benefits of red wine and dark chocolate. Especially so if you combine them together. Yes!

Free Advice: But Who's Asking?

If someone is not asking for my advice it usually means they don't want to hear it. Sounds obvious right? I am still amazed at how many times I have to wrestle this problem to the ground. I continually catch myself trying to offer free advice that was not solicited. Offering unsolicited advice can quickly transform you into a persona non grata without warning. The dilemma is that I'm a terminal problem solver and a recovering mister fix it.