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    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
    Audiobook5 hours

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

    Written by Donald Miller

    Narrated by Donald Miller

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    After the publication of his wildly successful memoir, Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller's life began to stall. During what should have been the height of his success, he found himself avoiding responsibility and even questioning the meaning of life. But when two producers proposed turning his memoir into a movie, Miller found himself launched into a new story filled with risk, possibility, beauty, and meaning.

    A Million Miles in a Thousand Years chronicles Miller's rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story and to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll. When his producers begin fictionalizing Don's life for the film--changing a meandering memoir into a structured narrative--the real-life Don starts a journey to make his actual life into a better story.

    In this book, we have a front-row seat to Miller's journey--from sleeping all day to riding his bike across America, from living in romantic daydreams to facing love head-on, from wasting his money to founding a life-changing nonprofit.

    Guided by a host of outlandish but very real characters, Miller teaches us:

    • Why God hasn't fixed us yet
    • The power of speaking something into nothing
    • The redemptive beauty that can come from tragic circumstances
    • How to get a second chance at life the first time around

    Through heart-wrenching honesty and hilarious self-inspection, Miller takes readers through the life that emerges when it turns from boring reality into a meaningful narrative.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarper Horizon
    Release dateSep 28, 2009
    ISBN9781418585570
    Author

    Donald Miller

    Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand and Business Made Simple. He is the host of the Coach Builder YouTube Channel and is the author of several books including bestsellers Building a StoryBrand, Marketing Made Simple, and How to Grow Your Small Business. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife, Elizabeth and their daughter, Emmeline.  

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    Reviews for A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

    4.5/5

    138 ratings30 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be insightful, inspiring, and thought-provoking. They appreciate the author's honest and simple writing style. The book offers meaningful and helpful perspectives, reminding readers of what truly matters in life. Some readers suggest starting with the author's newer books before reading this one, as it provides a deeper look into his journey. Overall, readers enjoy the book and recommend it for its engaging storytelling and impactful message.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      A very insightful and inspiring book! Great perspective from the authhor.
    • 5/5
      This book is Life-changing. I now have a completely different view of life.
    • 5/5
      Donald Miller never fails to disappoint - you may not agree with his conclusions but you'll probably enjoy the journey he took to get to them. Anyone who studied narrative therapy in graduate school will appreciate this book's discussion of life stories and how changing your story can change your direction. And his humour comes out of nowhere!

      I knew the first time I saw his name that the "Steve" that Miller refers to was "Steve Taylor" - although I'm sure this is a different Taylor than the one who sang the music I listened to in my teens. I would love to have 10 minutes with Taylor and ask him to reflect back on the songs he sang and ask if he regrets any of the positions he took - "Meltdown at Madame Toussaud's" "On the Fritz" "Whatever Happened to Sin?" and "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good" come to mind. He was gentler and more reflective in his last album, "Squint", but that was many, many years ago and I haven't heard anything about him save his producer duties since. I would love to hear about his journey.
    • 5/5
      Donald Miller was down on his luck. The success he achieved by writing the elusive best seller did not bring the happiness he desired. Donald was avoiding life. He simply could not face the music. Eventually with the help of a few friends and a couple of movie producers Miller realizes that life or your "story" is what you make it. However, instead of facing the music, Miller embraces it. This book was an amazing reading experience for me. Every once in awhile a book comes along that makes you re-examine yourself. This was the book for me. Miller puts his heart out on a limb throughout the book. Good stories don't always have happy endings but Miller reinforces the fact that its the journey not the destination that is most important. This book is a must in any library. I highly reccommend this to everyone.
    • 5/5
      It took me about 200 pages for it to finally click, but when it did I realized what Miller had astutely crafted. Seeing our lives from the point of view of our storyteller, and putting ourselves in the business of story craft is a masterful stroke. It brings together so many ideas from suffering to Imago Dei, to spiritual direction. I wish he would have made the Romans 5 connection that suffering leads to perseverance, perseverance to character, and character to hope, but he connected all the dots up to that point. Having the perspective to see sub-stories and mini-climaxes within our lives proved to be one of the most helpful of ideas.It's not overtly Christian as, say, Searching for God Knows What, but the book, especially the end, is undeniably Christian--it's just Christianity without the filter of Evangelical piety, which as a member of a fundamentalist church, I say can be refreshing.Unfortunately, probably doesn't have the broad appeal Blue Like Jazz does, but its a great read, especially for avid readers of fiction and writers.
    • 5/5
      Enjoyed it way more than expected. A great collection of his stories to emphasize his thesis’s. Enjoyable and thought provoking
    • 5/5
      This book is my all-time favorite. I love Don’s honest, simple writing style. More importantly, this book has helped me to look at my own life as a story to be told and I can say without a doubt, revisions must be made. Thank you, Don!
    • 5/5
      I loved it. Light & deep. Honest. Funny. Free. ❤️
    • 5/5
      Great book! I would definitely recommend reading or listening to.
    • 5/5
      Like BLJ, Miller as assembled a collection of observations and ponderings around an event to make it enjoyable, meaningful and touching. Faced with editing his book for a film, Miller finds he does not have much of a story. He goes about trying to create said story by finding his dad and embarking on a bicycle journey across the continent. His observations about like are very meaningful and parts had me tearing up thinking of how my story went terribly wrong. Not an overtly religious book, but, man, Miller really speaks to me.
    • 5/5
      This book made me cry, laugh, and jump into action to serve others. This author has a way of inter-lapping stories and making it all a concise and beautiful story with a poignant message. I’m truly grateful to have found this book and look forward to reading more from the author as well as Bob Goff’s podcast.
    • 4/5
      It was a fun engaging story.
      I didn’t get much out of it in terms of tactical and actionable steps I can do to improve my storytelling..
    • 5/5
      I enjoy this book so much that I just listened to it twice
    • 2/5
      I really like this book. Its quite funny and easy to read. All the metaphors that he made in his examples does resonates throughout the book. If only I could find the audiobook version, this book is highly rereadable.
    • 4/5
      If you are new to Donald Miller I’d strongly suggest you read one of his newer books first before this one.

      This is a combination of an autobiography and business/self-help book.

      You see early thoughts and threads of his breakthrough StoryBrand book here but StoryBrand is the culmination of years of refinement and organization of his teachings. (I think StoryBrand is one of the best, if not the #1 book, I’ve read about business.)

      I really enjoyed this as a deeper look into his own journey both as a man and a businessman but if I hadn’t read his other books and watched a number of his videos and online workshops I think I would have bailed at the lack of structure in this book.

      He was definitely onto something when he wrote this and I’m sure writing it helped him refine and develop his message to what it is today.
    • 2/5
      It was pretty funny from the beginning to pick up a book that is a book by a guy about his life during a book about his life being made into a movie (that was supposed to be confusing).
      One might describe it as narcissistic, or self-deprecating, and there honestly is a little bit of that. But overall, I feel like Don Miller is a great writer and I didn't have any problem breezing through it. And the really intriguing parts are the amazing stories of some of the people Don has met.
      I'd highly recommend Blue Like Jazz, Miller's earlier popular book, but you can probably pass on this one for now.

    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book. I thought it was full of meaningful and helpful perspective and it was so easy to just fall into the story. I agree that due to marketing and modern entertainment people often learn to strive for a “grand” life instead of a meaningful one. And in doing this people actually end up feeling more disconnected and alone. This book was a wonderful reminder of what really matters most.
    • 4/5
      Life is a journey, and we are all part of a much larger story - something we write each day.
    • 5/5
      I have been reading Don Miller since his 'Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance' days. This is unequivocally his best book to date - and I loved 'Blue Like Jazz.'Miller has matured since BLJ as a writer, and it appears also as a person. I was simultaneously hopeful, humbled, and repentant while reading this book
    • 5/5
      Although it often takes me a chapter or two to get used to Donald Miller's writing style, I find his work forthcoming and easy to read. This book - about living a better story - is a great way to jump start a new year. A year (2012) that I believe is going to be my best year yet!
    • 2/5
      For some reason, I just couldn't get into this book. It makes a few good points, but it's beyond me.
    • 1/5
      In Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life you will certainly find honesty if nothing else.It my policy to only promote edifying christian books. And although the book did herald the goodness and mercy of God and did encourage the reader to a better life, I cannot recommend this book as it does contain very inappropriate references.As a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson, I am required to review this book. It is my personal policy, however, to NOT disparage a writer or publisher.It is for this reason, I do not post reviews that discourage a reader to choose a book. Readers are certainly able to decide for themselves based on other reviewers posts whether they should read this book or not.
    • 5/5
      Like BLJ, Miller as assembled a collection of observations and ponderings around an event to make it enjoyable, meaningful and touching. Faced with editing his book for a film, Miller finds he does not have much of a story. He goes about trying to create said story by finding his dad and embarking on a bicycle journey across the continent. His observations about like are very meaningful and parts had me tearing up thinking of how my story went terribly wrong. Not an overtly religious book, but, man, Miller really speaks to me.
    • 5/5
      When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are. And when you stop expecting material possessions to complete you, you'd be surprised at how much pleasure you get in material possessions. And when you stop expecting God to end all your troubles, you'd be surprised how much you like spending time with God.
    • 4/5
      This book was written in a light, humorous style, but had some very intense lessons. The author was trying to determine what was important in life. He discovered along the way that it was the impact we make on others and the good we do, that makes life sweet.
    • 4/5
      A very strange book. But it made me laugh a lot, and think about life even more. Apparently Donald Miller has another book called BLUE LIKE JAZZ which was enormously successful, and this book was inspired by his groping attempts, along with a filmmaker and cinematographer, to turn BLUE LIKE JAZZ into a movie. A journey which made him wonder about what makes writing work, and what constitutes a good story. A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS, published by Thomas Nelson, is a Christian book, but only in the loosest sense of the word. What sets it apart from most 'Christian' books is its humor. Because Miller is a very funny guy with a very dry, self-deprecating sense of humor. He characterizes himself as this fat guy who was living his life rather aimlessly with no real sense of purpose. But he's a writer, and that early book made him famous, which got him to thinking about what he needed to do to make his life better, to give it purpose. And, in writing the screenplay - to his life, essentially - his fatherless youth came up, which caused him to find his father, who apologized for his absence and asked Donald's forgiveness. Miller admits that his dad had a few beers to make him brave enough, but he did forgive him, and they both felt better. There's a lot of rather sideways allusions to Miller's Christian faith, the importance of a few male mentors in his life from the church, but he doesn't make it the center of his story. Maybe that's why the book is as good as it is, why I liked it enough to finish it. It's not preachy or over-the-top evangelical the way so much of what we're hearing in the current Presidential election year. He keeps it light and entertaining. But it IS inspirational, the way he turns his life around, first by geeting into shape for a hike in the Andes, then a cross-country bicycle trip fundraiser, and, most of all, by founding an organization for kids in need of direction, called The Mentoring Project.Miller never rubs religion in your face; he takes it with a grain of salt. In fact, here's what he says about Jesus - "Growing up in church, we were taught that Jesus was the answer to all our problems. We were taught that there was a circle-shaped hole in our heart and that we had tried to fill it with the square pegs of sex, drugs and rock and roll; but only the circle peg of Jesus could fill our hole. I became a Christian based, in part, on this promise, but the hole never really went away. To be sure, I like Jesus, and I still follow him, but the idea that Jesus will make everything better is a lie. It's basically biblical theology translated into the language of infomercials ... I think Jesus can make things better, but I don't think he's going to make things perfect. Not here, and not now."Reading this, I decided Miller had a pretty good handle on this Christianity thing, and that he and Jesus would probably be pretty good pals. I noticed that the front cover of this paperback edition has an endorsement blurb from none other than Anne Lamott, a favorite writer of mine ever since BIRD BY BIRD. She says: "I love Donald Miller. He is a man after my own heart." Yeah. Mine too, Anne. Mine too. If you've been thinking about turning your life around; about how "to live a better story," try this book. You'll probably get some great ideas. Very highly recommended.- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book...while I was reading it I felt like my life was changing. And when I finished it I still wanted to continue to change my life. I recommended it to everyone I could. If I were Oprah I would have given a copy to everyone in my studio audience for a month.The book is a recount of Don Miller's experiences with two screen writers who are making a screenplay about one of his earlier books. The main concept I took away from this book was that a screenplay is like a life. The better the story, the better each one is.Miller gives a lot of examples with how he struggled to grasp that concept, he uses little snippets from his life and his friends' lives to illustrate concepts, and his writing style is so personalble, friendly and honest you feel like you're just sitting in a diner having a cup of coffee with him and a really nice chat.This book would be a great read for really anyone from young adults to senior citizens. It's inspiring, uplifting and hopeful. It's been a long time since I've read such an empowering, beautiful book. It's really worth everyone's time to read.
    • 4/5
      Is life a series of random events or something more? Donald Miller gets an opportunity to edit his life when an earlier memoir Blue Like Jazz is being adapted as a movie. The same concepts he reveals can be applied to a movie, a book, or a life. We are acting out a story in which our actions are more important than our intentions or thoughts. A story involves a character who wants to attempt something difficult and overcomes conflict to do it.There is nothing new in those ideas. The real value of the book is how the author gets himself off the couch and actually does something about recreating the story of his life. His first efforts were small. Buying a bike and getting in shape. But as he achieved small successes, he increased his goals. Making a connection with the father who abandoned him. Riding his bike cross-country to raise money to build wells in Africa. He writes with humor and candor about the people he meets along the way and about the faith that sustains him. I like his approach in this book. It contains an important message, it's well written, and it doesn't preach. Donald Miller is a Christian who lets his life do his witnessing for him.
    • 4/5
      I read Miller’s book, Blue Like Jazz, a few years back and was surprised to find some I could relate to so easily. This one is no different. He struggles with his faith, etc. and is completely honest with his thoughts. He also recently got a puppy, which made his story particularly accessible for me. He talks about searching for his father, traveling to Manchu Picchu, helping mentor kids, getting into shape and working on a screen play for a movie version of his book. He suggests that people will live better lives if they think of them in terms of making them a “better story,” which is an interesting concept. One friend decides to do just that and moves his family to another country to work as a missionary. There are no earth-shattering realizations in this book, just interesting observations and experiences that can be applied to almost anyone's life. 
    • 5/5
      Inspiring and the perfect length. My two favorite takeaways were to start a memories journal with things I remember from my life as they come to me, and to create memorable scenes in my life, like a movie would.