Editing A Great Life Story

If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you'd seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo. But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either. here's what I mean by that....

That was the introduction paragraph to A Million Miles in a Thousand Years↗ by Donald Miller.

What happens when you write a successful book that leads to filmmakers knocking on your door asking to turn your life into a movie? You write a follow-up book answering one important question:

"Has my life been a story worth telling?"

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles the path of the Author, Don, as he is confronted with the harsh reality that his life is not very interesting. Despite his best-selling memoir, Don realizes his story is dull, routine, and uneventful. As the filmmakers begin their journey to reshape Don's story to entertain on the big screen, Don undertakes a personal journey to rewrite his actual life in tandem.

That's the thing you'll realize when you organize your life into the structure of a story. You'll get a taste for one story and then want another, and then another, and the stories will build until you're living a kind of epic of risk and reward, and the whole thing will be molding you into the actual character whose roles you've been playing.

Don's book is a fun collection of stories - from laugh out loud to choke you up. Some moments seem completely random, others are thoughtful and intentional. Full disclosure, a great deal of the storyline could be classified as "cheesy." If that's not your jam, this might not be your favorite read. Either way, the central idea is thought-provoking.

When we look back on our lives, what we will remember are the crazy things we did, the times we worked harder to make a day stand out. . . A good movie has memorable scenes, and so does a good life.

Memorable scenes require effort. In almost every instance, we have to force ourselves to create them. We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off to meet up with a friend and explore a new area in town. We have to pull the car off the road and hike to the hilltop to fully appreciate the view. We have to wake up before our alarms to watch the sun rise above the horizon. We have to put on our suits before we can dance at weddings.

If you think about your life as a movie, would it be worth watching?

In his book, Don proves you have a second chance at life the first time around.

Parting Thoughts 🤝

This community is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this page, I may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.

I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and life is treating you well!

Cheers Everyone 🥂

If you made it this far in the article, thank you for your time! I appreciate you tremendously and am thrilled to have you in our community.

That's it for this issue.

Until next time - be well, be intentional, and be yourself.

Have a week,

Whit