DonMillerIs.com

I've only read one of Donald Miller's books, Blue Like Jazz, and honestly don't desire at the moment to read his other books, even though I know that this might change. I do however try to read his blog, donmilleris.com, regularly because sometimes there's a post that just blows my mind! Here are two of them that I think are full of nuggets of wisdom.

If 40 is the New 30 Then is 20 the New Junior High?

The trend of 20 year olds not wanting to commit to a spouse or career and deciding to live with their parents, travel the world, work temp jobs is increasing at an alarming rate. Don Miller lists 7 easy tips to overcome this and to make oneself more disciplined and mature sooner. Here are two tips that I personally really liked:

5. Accept hardship: Hardship is part of every life, and God intends it to purify you and prepare you. If you reject hardship, you reject life.

I believe that the older you get, the harder life gets. I believe that this is a principle of life. You can try break this principle, but you won't. You'll only break yourself against this principle. For example, there's gravity. Gravity is a principle in this world and if you want to try to jump from a cliff and defy gravity, you won't. Gravity is a principle of life that you can't break. You can try to work around, with, or against it so that you can fly. But you can't break it, eventually gravity will pull you back down to Earth. Same thing with the principle of "the older you get, the harder life gets." There's very little you can do to make life not harder, the only thing you can do is first accept it and then work harder. The older you get, the harder life gets, the harder you have to work.

2. Read books: Try to read a book a week for the next six weeks. This alone will stimulate your mind and you’ll start being bored with being bored. You’ll want to explore ideas. Your conversations with friends will become boring. You’ll wonder how many more conversations you can have about what happened the last time you guys were drunk.

It's true! I like the part where he says "you'll start being bored with being bored." I do read, not a lot, but I do absorb as much as I can from mainly online articles and some books, listening to sermons/podcasts, and watching YouTube videos about my main hobbies (Jesus, Pajjar, the Church, music, Magic, guitar gear). The more I delve by reading, listening, and watching, the more I feel that I have to learn. I like to think of myself as a person who is rarely bored and am very proud of this fact!

Another blog post that Donald Miller wrote that blew my mind was about reading in general. It was called: Do This One Thing and You’ll Rise Above Your Peers

Here's a quick summary of it:

Readers are Leaders.

According to Para Publishing, 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. And 42% of college graduates follow suit. 70% of U.S. adults have not stepped into a bookstore in the last 7 years and 80% of American families did not purchase or read a book last year.

You are generally smarter than your parents. Why? One reason is because you read more than they do. You live in America and it is the most prosperous country in the world? Why? One reason is because Americans generally read more than other countries.

Readers are Leaders. Read more.