Last week, I revisited the Wright Brothers Memorial and Museum on the windy Outer Banks of North Carolina.
My family has vacationed there for years. My dad was a private pilot, and I’d been flying with him in his little airplane since I was about nine years old.
In fact, I remember the first time we visited the Outer Banks. Dad landed his plane at the little Kitty Hawk airport, not far from where the Wright Brothers made their first successful powered flight in 1903.
With Dad’s love for flying, I even remember writing a book report about the Wright Brothers for a grade-school assignment.
I guess you could say that, along with Dad’s love of flying, I developed a special place in my heart for these two brothers whose persistence and determination helped change the way people around the world travel and connect with one another.
But during this recent visit, something else about their story captured my attention.
And it brought back some wonderful memories of my dad.
Memories of Dad
As I strolled through the museum, memories came flooding back—not only of Dad and his love of flying, but also of the part he played in my eleven-year journey along the Appalachian Trail.
You see, Dad was actually my very first—and only—Appalachian Trail shuttle “flyer”!
That’s right. He flew me back to my car after I finished my very first section hike.
Perhaps that makes my Appalachian Trail journey just a little more unique than most!
As I continued wandering through the museum, thinking about Dad, I came across one of the many displays scattered throughout the exhibits.
One title immediately caught my attention.
DON’T GIVE UP.
My heart leaped with joy and encouragement!
I felt as though I’d just discovered a long-lost kindred cousin.
Oh, could I ever relate!
What If the Wright Brothers Had Quit?
The display explained that in 1901, two years before their first successful powered flight, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned home to Dayton, Ohio, discouraged by the poor performance of their glider.
They were beginning to question whether human flight was even possible.
Imagine that!
The very men whose invention would eventually change the world were wondering whether their dream was nothing more than a dream.
But rather than abandoning their efforts, they learned from their disappointments.
They continued experimenting, questioning, making adjustments, and trying again.
They didn’t give up.
And as I stood there reading about their determination, my encouragement grew.
Because suddenly, I was remembering something else Dad had given me many years ago.
A Poem From Dad
Years ago, Dad gave me a copy of a poem called Don’t Quit.
It’s a poem about continuing when circumstances are difficult, when progress seems painfully slow, and when the finish line feels impossibly far away.
Its message is simple: sometimes we may be closer to accomplishing our dreams than we realize.
And I began to wonder.
How much had the Wright Brothers inspired my dad?
Did their story influence him beyond simply developing a love for flying an airplane some fifty or sixty years later?
Did their determination to keep trying, even when things weren’t going well, encourage Dad to pursue his own dreams?
And could some of that determination have been passed along to me?
Perhaps it began when I wrote that book report about the Wright Brothers all those years ago.
Perhaps it came through Dad’s encouragement and the poem he shared with me.
I don’t know.
But standing there in that museum, I began to see some interesting connections between their story, Dad’s life, and my own.
Mile After Mile, Year After Year
I’m sometimes asked what motivated me to keep going as I plugged away at the Appalachian Trail.
Mile after mile.
Year after year.
Mountain after mountain.
Eleven years is a long time to pursue a dream!
And it certainly wasn’t eleven years of everything going according to plan.
I can’t begin to count the number of times I had to abandon a hike because of illness, bad weather, incompatible hiking partners, or other unexpected circumstances.
There were times I wondered whether I would ever finish.
And yes, there were times I wondered whether I even wanted to!
But somehow, after every disappointment, I eventually found myself planning another hike.
Another section of Trail.
Another mountain to climb.
Another opportunity to take that next faithful step.
And finally, in 2024, at the age of 65, I stood on the summit of Mt. Katahdin, having completed my eleven-year journey.
But as I stood in the Wright Brothers Museum last week, I began thinking beyond my own accomplishment.
What if I hadn’t gone back after one of those disappointing hikes?
What if I’d simply decided that more than a thousand miles—or even two thousand miles—was enough?
How would my life be different today?
And that led me to an even bigger question.
The Ripple Effect of Not Giving Up
What if the Wright Brothers had given up on their dream?
Certainly, other inventors were pursuing flight. But how might history have unfolded differently if Wilbur and Orville had allowed their discouragement to overcome their determination?
And what about my dad?
What if he’d never pursued his dream of flying?
Would I have developed the same appreciation for aviation and the Wright Brothers?
Would I have written that book report?
Would he have flown me to the beginning of my first Appalachian Trail adventure?
And would I have learned some of the same lessons about perseverance?
I may never know the answers to those questions.
But they have certainly given me something to ponder.
Because there’s another question I’ve been asking myself.
Have I ever encouraged someone else to keep pursuing a dream simply because I didn’t give up on mine?
Maybe someone who has read my Appalachian Trail memoir will be encouraged to pursue a dream they’ve set aside.
Maybe someone will discover that a goal they once thought impossible is worth another attempt.
Maybe someone fifty years from now will read one of my stories and find the encouragement they need to take their own next faithful step.
I may never know.
But someone might.
And isn’t that an interesting thought?
Dreams Don’t End at the Finish Line
My dreams didn’t stop when I finished the Appalachian Trail.
In some ways, that eleven-year journey opened the door to an entirely new season of dreaming.
I have dreams of encouraging others through my writing and storytelling.
I have dreams of gathering family stories and putting together a legacy book for my family before I leave this earth.
And I have dreams of perhaps helping other people capture their stories and preserve them for future generations.
Who knows where any of those dreams might lead?
But one thing I do know is that none of them will happen if I quit dreaming and stop taking steps toward making them a reality.
We may not all become famous like the Wright Brothers or accomplish something that changes the world.
But that doesn’t mean our lives don’t matter.
Every one of us has the opportunity to influence others, whether for good or bad, and whether we realize it or not.
We may never know how far the ripple effects of our actions, our words, or our determination will reach.
I suspect the Wright Brothers could hardly have imagined all the ways their dream would eventually influence the lives of people they would never meet.
And perhaps the same is true, only on a smaller scale, for each of us.
What If You Didn’t Give Up?
Have you ever been inspired by someone else’s determination to keep going?
Perhaps it was a parent, a teacher, a friend, or even someone you never met.
Maybe their example encouraged you to try again when you were ready to quit.
Or perhaps you’ve been the one who encouraged someone else.
And what about that dream you may have set aside because life didn’t go according to plan?
Could it be time to revisit it?
After all, I didn’t complete the Appalachian Trail in one continuous journey. I returned again and again, sometimes after disappointing setbacks, until I finally reached that last white blaze.
And the Wright Brothers didn’t accomplish their dream on their first attempt, either.
They learned, adjusted, and continued.
Sometimes perseverance doesn’t mean stubbornly following the same plan. Sometimes it means being willing to try a different approach while continuing to pursue the dream.
Your life matters. Your dreams matter. And you may never know how far the influence of your determination will reach.
So don’t stop dreaming.
And don’t underestimate the difference you might make in someone else’s life simply by taking that next faithful step.
Interested in the story behind my eleven-year Appalachian Trail journey? Explore the Facing Fear Through Faith memoir trilogy and the accompanying Appalachian Trail Photo Journals.