What a guy!

We learned all about George Washington today, how he was ambitious yet came from humble roots, wanted nothing more than a commission in the British army, failed pretty badly at his first skirmish for them in the French and Indian War. He was 43 at the time of the Revolution, had acquired some land, 20,000 acres of which were usurped from his own troops as booty for service under the British. He wore a uniform of his own design to the Continental Congress, where, gee whiz, he was appointed the leader of the Rebels. Out of his first 10 battles, he lost 7. However, despite a large learning curve, he did become a great tactician and with the help of their former enemy, France, managed to defeat the Redcoats. He was very brave in battle, fought on the front line, which won him great respect among his generals and troops. After the surrender of Cornwallis, his generals were disgruntled because they had not been paid and were plotting a military coup against the fragile young government, and wanted George to be military dictator. He made a speech before them inploring them to change their minds, but he was not a strong orater and they were unswayed. Then he read them a letter from the Congress, but before doing that, he put on his glasses, stating that he had not only grown gray in their service, but blind as well. This so moved the generals that he didn't even have to finish the letter. So Washington made a pivotal decision in the life of our nation, not to allow himself to usurp power and establish this country as a monarchy. Isn't that interesting? One man, one moment in time, influenced the whole world, by not doing anything. I personally use that strategy often, when faced with difficulties, just step back, see what unfolds. And notice that though we have three branches of government here, the military is not one of them. Thanks to George.