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Very few leaders, (if any), in the history of this country have dealt with more adversity than George Washington.
Faced with the prospect of leading a war for Independence against a well-trained and well-led army, he had little to work with.
His “troops,” at least at the outset, were untrained, undisciplined, ill-equipped when they were equipped at all, and the Congress and the people expected them to perform miracles.
The Revolutionary War lasted eight and a half years. That is a lot longer than most people today are aware that it did, and a lot longer than the people of the time expected that it would. And there were more setbacks than victories for the new “Americans.”
Undaunted during those setbacks, George Washington is quoted as having said:
“We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before, and it has changed for the better; so I trust it will again.”
Then, of course, Mr. Washington had the honor of being the first President of the United States, which surrounded him with an assortment of rancorous characters that makes one wonder how we ever made it.
But, through it all, George Washington managed to keep his poise and inspire his peers to be greater than they thought they could be.
The beauty and importance of the twenty-three words that I have quoted is in the simple, assumptive faith that they so powerfully embody.
This was a man who had faced extreme adversity and immense pressures, and rather than give these difficulties prominence, he chose to characterize them as “compromising situations,” trusting that it would “change for the better.”
Whatever you may be facing, or may face in the future, let his words light your path. You’ve been in bad spots before, and you made it. Do not despair; trust that you will again.
Many Blessings To All…
LOTD
