WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

 

This book is an amazing practical way to deal with change in our life, if only we can take our time to read and understand it.

It’s a story of four characters “Sniff and Scurry” “Hem and Haw”

SNIFF sniffs out change early,

SCURRY scurries into action,

Hem denies and resists change as he fears it will lead to something worse  

Haw learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better.

They were all in the maze in pursuit of their cheese. “CHEESE being a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace or even an activity like jogging or golf.

The “Maze” in the story represents where you spend time looking for what you want. Either in the organization you work, your community or your relationships you have in your life.

Sniff and Scurry possessing simple brains and good instincts, searched for the hard nibbling cheese they liked, using the simple trial- and- error method of finding cheese. They ran down one corridor and if proved empty, they turned and ran down another. They remembered the corridors that held no cheese and quickly went into new areas…….they were never reluctant to try…..   

Hem and Haw are two dwarfs looking for a cheese in a maze, and eventually they find a place that seems to replenish itself with cheese from one day to the next. Haw starts agreeing with his pal Hem, who is comfortable where he is, and both do not understand when the cheese disappears and get frustrated and a little confused.

The major character was Haw who laughed at himself and changed for good

Haw asks himself how he could be any worse if he just went looking for another piece of cheese through the labyrinth again. Haw was beginning to realize the difference between activity and productivity.

Little by little he starts convincing himself that to invite change, to not be afraid of change, to visualize your goal [the new chunk of cheese] and to be fueled not by fear but by hope of achieving what you want is best thing one can do. Then he used his imagination to paint the most believable picture he could…with the most realistic details of him finding and enjoying the taste of new Cheese.

Haw tried as much as possible to convince his brother Hem. “Sometimes things change and they are never the same again. This looks like one of those times. That is life! Life moves on. And so should we” haw kept thinking about what he could gain instead of what he was losing. Now he realized that change could lead to something better. Just realizing he was not letting his fear stop him, and knowing that he had taken a new direction, nourished him and gave him strength. And then he asked himself “why didn’t I see this before”

What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists.

It is natural for change to continually occur, whether you expect it or not. “When you change what you believe, you change what you do”

Haw realized that when he had been afraid to change he had been holding on the illusion of old cheese that was no longer there. Then he laughed and realized that he had started to change as soon as he had learned to laugh at himself and what he had been doing wrong. He realized the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own folly, then you can let go and quickly move on.

Haw reflected on the mistakes he had made in the past and used them to plan for the future. He had to admit that the biggest inhibitor to change lies within yourself, and that nothing gets better until you change.

Hem stays behind, moaning and moping, complaining of the unfairness of the situation, that he deserved the cheese, but by now haw has learned not to trust permanence, and actually enjoy change. he even tries to convince hem to give up the expectation that the old cheese will reappear,and to come along with him to this new section of the maze that has all this cheese. But atlas, hem refused to change and stays where he is.

Conclusion: Each of us has our own idea of what cheese is, and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy. If we get it, we often become attached to it, and if we lose it, or it’s taken away, it can be traumatic.