4 out of 4 stars
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What do you get when your determination trumps generational tradition and when you commit to breaking out? And Then I Met Margaret by Rob White is an insightful and entertaining memoir of self-transformation. In a quick read of 185 pages written in a warm tone and with incisive humour, Rob White inspires us to reflect on our own life and lessons that we, consciously or subconsciously, learn from what he calls ‘unexpected gurus’ along the way.
Rob is of humble beginnings from a small poor town in the United States where it was believed, he was destined to work in one of the two factories and follow the same tradition his friends and family had. To everyone’s surprise including his own, Rob opts to go to college, then university and pursue teaching career for seventeen years. After one of Rob’s students asked him for an advice on how to pursue her own dream, Rob decided that it was time for him to pursue his, so he went on and created his successful real estate developer status. In addition, he also became a well-established restaurateur. Nevertheless, enjoying his material riches he realised that he lacked inner affluence so he decided to seek out internationally recognised gurus. While on his search mission Rob realised that, although the renowned gurus such as Stephan Covey and Dipak Chopra taught him valuable lessons, his best teachers that left an everlasting imprint in his mind and soul were ‘everyday’ gurus that we all stumble upon on our path of life.
The book is divided into twenty one chapters that all begin with the myth that Rob believed. In every chapter, Rob introduces us to one of his unexpected gurus that taught him a lesson. We meet his Aunt Theresa who taught him how to unleash the power of kindness, we also meet his grad student who asked him a simple question and made Rob get a deeper understanding of a true meaning of life and then there is also a Maasai mother who taught him how limitless personal power can be. Rob also shows us how he was able to share these same lessons in appropriate scenarios sometimes even twenty years later. The chapters follow the timeline of Rob’s life and end with the reality that Rob discovered.
Rob White is a compelling storyteller with an engaging sense of humour and ability to inspire and motivate those who are searching for a way to transform their life into a more meaningful and fulfilling experience. And Then I Met Margaret not only makes us reflect on our own life long after we finish it but also look at the world through the new set of lenses. This book will help us recognise and acknowledge the unexpected gurus in our lives, those that we possibly omitted and those that are yet to come.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It is intimate, entertaining and persuasive read that keeps you engaged, makes you reflect and take a step towards reaching your goals and achieving your dreams. It provides some of the answers to what you can achieve if you are determined and how far you can reach if you decide to break out with your mindset.
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And Then I Met Margaret
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. I agree on the lightheartedness of it - it is an easy, entertaining read (which, I think, White intended it to be) that will get you thinking and possibly go for the resolution on change of some kind. But if we talk about serious transformation, indeed there are other authors to be considered.
