By Timothy D. Naegele[1]
Many of us have had amazing experiences in our lives; too many to count.[2] Perhaps the truism that "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" says it all, and governs.[3]
At times we seem to know exactly where we are going. At other times there's not a clue. We seem shrouded in a mist. At times we zig and zag toward our goals. At other times, they seem illusive, if not out of sight and reach.
Some people appear to go straight for their goals, and achieve them. Jobs, marriages, families, health all seem to fall into place like magic. Is a Divine Force guiding them, and not us?
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson penned those sobering words in December of 1854.[4] Is our destiny preordained? God gave each of us free will, so I believe[5]; and we can pick and choose. Sometimes the winds buffet us; other times we seem to have the wind at our backs. One thing is for certain: we are not getting out of this life alive, so we had best grin and bear it.
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© 2025, Timothy D. Naegele
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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams. He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/05/12/legacy ("Legacy") and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ ("Accomplishments")
[3] See, e.g., https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/john-lennon-life-happens-quote/ ("Did John Lennon Create the Phrase, 'Life Is What Happens When You're Busy Making Other Plans'?")
[4] See, e.g., https://poets.org/poem/charge-light-brigade ("The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson"); see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade ("Charge of the Light Brigade") and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade_(poem) ("The Charge of the Light Brigade")
[5] See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/what-and-where-is-god/ ("What And Where Is God?")
The dog in the photo is ours, whom we lost last year and still miss terribly.
See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/23/the-wonder-dog-is-dead-and-part-of-me-died-with-her/ ("The Wonder Dog Is Dead, And Part of Me Died With Her")
