Adventures in Reading: "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller

It is no exaggeration to say that this book changed my life.

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" is Donald Miller's latest memoir-esque contribution to my library. What I love about Don (I met him briefly a few years ago, so I feel like I can call him that) is that all of his books are memoirs, but they're all about a different unique facet of his life experience so far. They are also all very conversational, and read just like a real conversation with him feels.

This is the description of the book from the cover jacket:

"Years after writing a best-selling memoir, Donald Miller went into a funk and spent months sleeping in and avoiding his publisher. One story had ended, and he wasn't sure how to start another.

But he gets rescued by two movie producers who want to make a movie based on his memoir. When the start fictionalizing Don's life for film -- changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative -- the real life Don starts a journey to edit his actual life into a better story. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years details that journey and challenges readers to reconsider what they strive for in life. It shows how to get a second chance at life the first time around."

So there you have it. A basic description. Now I'll tell you some of the things I really learned...

1) The principles that make written stories great are the same principles that make the stories of our lives great. This especially hit home as someone who wants to create great stories on paper. I know what it takes. It almost gives me a sense of obligation to create better stories in my real life.

2) Living a better story is an intentional process. It won't just happen. I have to get off my couch and make it happen.

3) It is silly for me to ask Life what it's meaning is. Instead, Life seems to be asking me what is meaningful. Things can be hard and not go the way I want them to, but does that negate meaning for life in general? That seems like quite a leap. Maybe my life doesn't seem like a big deal, but maybe it's not about me. Maybe, as Don puts it, I am a tree in a story about a forest.

4) Treating things like things and people like people will make those things and those people much more enjoyable. I have to let go of the lie that things and people are going to somehow resolve any issues I have. My rescuer for all things is Jesus, not new clothes or a relationship.

5) The climax of any human story will not actually happen while a person is living. Our lives are made up of many, many stories, but none of them will have the finality and resolve that a story in a book or movie will have. Our stories just about always leave room for a sequel. After one goal is achieved, there will be a new struggle to overcome on the horizon.

Those are just a few things that I picked up reading this book (twice). Reading this book has literally changed the way I view my life. I want to make better stories. I want to risk more to gain more. Miller says that once you start to live better stories, you can't go back to the way things were before. I think I'm at that point: there's no going back now that I know there is a better way.

I would enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone. Miller's writing speaks to our common human experience in a way that is humble, humorous, heart-breaking, and above all, honest. It's probably too late to put this book on your Christmas list, but maybe you'll get a gift card for Borders or something...