Don't Give Up!

Dreams. Most of us have them. Odds are even those who say they don't actually do.

I'm not talking about the dreams you have at night where you're at work and it's completely different from what you normally do so you don't know what you're doing but the boss thinks you should know, and suddenly you're in your underwear talking to customers about shock absorbers for their hot wheels.

No, I'm talking about those dreams you have of doing something other than dealing with customers every day. Of doing what you want to do. Of a life you want to wake up for.

What's my dream? I'm not going to say because I'm not here to talk about me. I'm here to talk about you. And Cyrus Avery. And John T. Woodruff.

Odds are you've never heard of either of these gentlemen unless you live in Oklahoma or Missouri, and even then it's doubtful. They were the masterminds behind Route 66.

True, much of their dreaming came from the desire for better roads in their areas. Both men worked with highway associations at a time when there were few roads outside of cities, and even fewer decent roads. Their goal initially was to have a better road through Missouri and Oklahoma. Roads that weren't simple mud and dirt tracks that people could take their new motor cars on safely. From there the dream grew to become a major interstate highway, the first of its kind.

Now, it's true there was already an interstate highway. The Lincoln Highway began almost a decade before Route 66, as did the Dixie Highway. Both were in existence before the US Bureau of Public Roads decided to change from a Named Highway system to a Numbered system.

In addition, these highways were designed to be direct routes. They bypassed many towns and cities much like the current interstate system does. What Avery and Woodruff envisioned would deliberately route through smaller towns and various cities, running right down the Main Streets of these towns. This is how Route 66 got the nickname America's Main Street.

Getting back to dreams, the dream for Route 66, this connecting of small towns across the country, was first conceived by 1920. It wasn't until 1925 that the route for this highway took shape and another year before it was officially designated. Thus in 1926 did Route 66 come into being.

Avery and Woodruff never gave up on the dream of this highway. They lobbied for it. They fought for it. They campaigned and advertised. They worked to make this dream a reality, as they had with many other dreams before and after this one.

So take this tip from the Mother Road: don't give up on your dreams. Keep working on them, even if it doesn't happen as quickly as you would like. It may take years of hard work to make your dream a reality but when it does it will be worth it. Look at Route 66. Almost 100 years after becoming the realization of a dream it still captures the imagination. It still inspires others. You never know what will happen with your dream. It may be smaller than an interstate highway but it may last longer than you could know.

So keep dreaming, and keep working to make your dream come true.