Donald Miller's-- A Million Miles in a Thousand years, is one of my favorite books.
Miller goes from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to fearful encounters with love, from wasting his money to founding a nonprofit with a passionate cause. Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller shows us how to get a second chance at life the first time around. A Million Miles in a Thousand Years is a rare celebration of the beauty of life. It's all about daring to live a good story
"Fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life."
So after reading this book I pondered, "If my story were a book or a movie would anybody want to watch it?"
How about you?
When's the last time you did something new? Learned a new skill? Pushed self out of comfort zone?
“Somehow we realize that great stories are told in conflict, but we are unwilling to embrace the potential greatness of the story we are actually in. We think God is unjust, rather than a master storyteller.”
If we don't embrace the conflict, or the difficult we stagnate.
Jedidiah Jenkins pedaled his bike from North and South America. At the age of 30, Jedidiah Jenkins quit his day job and embarked on a 16-month, 10,000-mile bike trip from Oregon to Patagonia, Chile, the self-imposed catalyst for pursuing his dream of writing a book.
"So many people have dreams they want to pursue, but they’re afraid to talk about them because they don’t want to fail or have others hold them to it. They ask, “Who am I to do that?” So I scared myself into going after my dream by telling everybody." Jedidiah Jenkins
So how can we get out of stagnation mode and into shake up mode?
Dare a day
New hobby
New venture
Renew old talent
Invite discomfort into your life.
Ask yourself, "What are the things that make you come alive? or scared?" Then do that!
When we do this we:
1-- Grow as a human. Increase our value and add more skills to offer to friends and family members.
2. Develop deep self confidence by trying and failing and trying again.
3. Model life-giving behavior for our children and grand children.
All good stuff.
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