Blake Mycoskie and Donald Miller

I've been inspired by both these guys lately: hearing Blake's lecture at Murray State last Tuesday and reading Donald's book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life.

That's right, we're on a first name basis

Here (pictured below) is Blake from TOMS Shoes. TOMS is an awesome company. Not only do they have really cool, comfy, unique shoes, they also give back in amazing ways by giving a pair of shoes to a kid in need for every pair they sell. Read more about what TOMS Shoes does here. What I remember most from his lecture is what he said about being motivated by doing good. He said focus on doing good and the rest will fall into place (that's not exactly what he said, wish I wrote it down exactly because it was really powerful). His story is really interesting and encouraging. I'm so glad I had that opportunity to hear it.

Pretty sure this will be my next pair :)

Any other Donald Miller fans out there? I love his books. They are so inspiring, encouraging and challenging. He wrote this book after making a movie about his life. He said, "I started thinking differently about life when I met a couple of filmmakers who wanted to make a movie about a memoir I'd written (his book pg. 9)." The book is super interesting because he's talking about making a movie while relating it to living life. Anyway, I'm not about to try to sum this book up or anything

(I was done with all that business about 5 months ago when I graduated from college)

but I will give you some of my favorite quotes and hope that you read it too. 

"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 that a master storyteller"

page 32

"If the point of life is the same as the point of a story, the point of life is character transformation"

page 68

"People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain."

page 100

"...the great stories go to those who don't give in to fear"

page 108

"The point of the story is never about the ending, remember. It's about your character getting molded in the hard work of the middle."

page 177

Both this book and Blake's lecture have encouraged me to take more risks and to live a better story.

But don't take my word on it - check out the TOMS story and read Donald Miller's book for yourself :)