Is there life in your story?

I’ve been devouring Donald Miller’s new Book, A million Miles in a Thousand Years (What I Learned while editing my life). The basic concept is him asking what makes a story, a good story? And much like the elements in a good story, when those elements are present in your life (your own story) you’ve got the makings of a life well lived. Trust me, go grab a copy. (EDIT: Check out Don’s blog post for more on this) Here are a few insights that I found leaping out at me:

p. 38

My uncle told a good story with his life, but I think there was such sadness at his funeral because his story wasn’t finished. If you aren’t telling a good story, nobody thinks you died too soon; they just think you died. But my uncle died too soon.

P. 48

“A story is a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it”

P. 59

I’ve wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don’t want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don’t want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn’t remarkable, then we don’t have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants.

P. 86

There is a knowing I feel that guides me toward better stories, toward being a better character. I believe there is a writer outside ourselves, plotting a better story for us, interacting with us, even, and whispering a better story into our consciousness.

And lastly – P. 124

The ambitions we have will become the stories we live.

There is a question I believe is worth asking: What’s your story? Is there life in your story?

And I’ve also been listening to the new Switchfoot, Hello Hurricane. On it, there’s a song called Mess of Me. Coupled with Donald Miller’s ideas of living a life that tells a grand story, there’s some powerful thoughts here.

I am my own affliction

I am my own disease

There ain’t no drug that they could sell

Oh, there ain’t no drug to make me well

(There ain’t no drug)

There ain’t no drug

There ain’t no drug

It’s not enough

The sickness is myself

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to get back the rest of me

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to get back the rest of me

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

The rest of my life alive

We lock our souls in cages

We hide inside our shells

It’s hard to free the ones you love

Oh, when you can’t forgive yourself

Yeah, forgive yourself

(There ain’t no drug)

There ain’t no drug

There ain’t no drug

The sickness is myself

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to get back the rest of me

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to reverse this tragedy

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

The rest of my life alive

Oh, right

And there ain’t no drug

There ain’t no drug

There ain’t no drug

No drug to make me well

There ain’t no drug

It’s not enough

I’m breaking up

The sickness is myself

The sickness is myself

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to get back the rest of me

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to reverse this tragedy

I’ve made a mess of me

I want to spend the rest of my life alive

The rest of my life alive

I love the line ” I want to spend the rest of my life alive The rest of my life alive”