Embrace the Chaos

How India Taught Me to Stop Overthinking and Start Living (BK Life)

By: Bob Miglani

Narrated by: Rob Shamblin

Like many of us, Bob Miglani felt overwhelmed and anxious. He worried constantly about his job, his finances, and his family. It was a chance invitation to India, the land of his birth, that finally freed him.

India, Miglani writes, is “the capital of chaos”: over a billion people living on one-third the space of the United States. And it was there that he learned to let go. The secret is to stop trying to control the chaos and focus on what you can control—your own actions, words, and thoughts. Move forward, make mistakes, trust your intuition, find your purpose.

In this inspiring book, Miglani shares the experiences and encounters that helped him finally get it. What happens when you find yourself in an Indian village with no money and a plane to catch? How could an educated urban woman agree to a marriage after two dates? What keeps a rural health worker motivated despite the enormous need and such limited ability to help? What does trying to catch an insanely overcrowded bus teach you about perfection? Embracing the chaos, Miglani found, “leads us down paths we never would have walked on...It brings out strengths we never knew existed inside of us.”

©2013 Bob Miglani (P)2014 Bob Miglani

Simple truths with colorful story telling

Simple stories from a person's life that shared important truths. Good length, have me what I was looking for.

Should be called "Stating the Obvious"

I was actually looking for books on India when I stumbled across this title. I'd never listened to a self-help book before and, as someone who often overthinks, I figured the book might be both interesting (the stories) and helpful (the insights). Turns out I was wrong on both accounts.

Let me begin by saying that the narrator doesn't do the author any favors. He gets all the words right (though not all the pronunciations) but he infuses no life into the text. It's like listening to Siri read your email. I had the sense that Rob was seeing the material for the first time as he was reading it.

As for the content, prepare yourself for such insights as "possessions can't make you happy", "it's about the journey, not the destination", and "relax, things usually just work out". Seriously? If these are new ideas to you then this book may just prove helpful. My feeling is that there is not much here for anyone who has engaged in any type of self-reflection. But understand too that Bob is not a psychologist; his background is in sales.

The low point of the book, the point at which I should have just written the whole thing off, was Bob's account of his attendance at an Indian wedding. Picture in your mind the stereotype of an NYC executive at a Fortune 50 company: pushy, impatient and generally entitled. That's Bob at this wedding. Kudos to him for his candor but it became apparent at that point that a big part of his problem may be that he's an unpleasant person. I actually caught myself saying out loud, "Shut up!" as he recounted his incessant complaining.

Bob's probably a fine and decent person but, unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about this book. If you're self-aware enough to know you need to stop overthinking and start living you are probably better off finding something written by a professional who can hopefully share some thoughts and ideas that haven't already occurred to you on your own.