“WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?...

The title of this short book caught my attention first… I LOVE cheese! Then I saw that it was written by Spencer Johnson, MD, the author of “The One Minute Manager” I read years ago. Then I saw that it was less than 100 pages long… a perfect little nugget I could devour in a couple of hours.

“Life is no straight and easy corridor along which we travel free and unhampered, but a maze of passages, through which we must seek our way, lost and confused, now and again checked in a blind alley. But always, if we have faith, a door will open for us, not perhaps one that we ourselves would ever have thought of, but one that will ultimately prove good for us.” ~ A.J. Cronin

“Who Moved My Cheese?” is a wonderfully simple parable about change. It is a fun and informative tale about four characters who live in a ‘Maze’ and who must look for ‘Cheese’ not only for food, but in their quest for happiness. Two of the characters are mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two are ‘little people,’ Hem and Haw, who are mouse-size characters who look and act a lot like humans. OK, the stage is almost set. Just three more things to clarify: (1) ‘Cheese’ is a metaphor for what you want in life -- maybe a good job, a loving relationship, a fancy car, swimming pool or vibrant health, inner peace, freedom or all of the above – whatever you truly desire; (2) The ‘Maze’ is wherever you look for your Cheese; and (3) the four imaginary characters in the story represent the simple and the complex parts of ourselves – sometimes we see change early and take action; sometimes we deny and resist change due to fear of the unknown but then learn to adapt when we realize that the only chance we have for survival is to embrace it. “Whatever parts of us we choose to use, we all share something in common: a need to find our way in the maze and succeed in changing times.”

Anyway, in the story Change happens (as it always does) and everyone’s Cheese gets moved! The search is different for each of the characters and many of this book’s lessons are in seeing ourselves in the thoughts and actions of the characters.

For Sniff and Scurry (being mice), it wasn’t too long before their normal mouse activities helped them find the Cheese again, but they didn’t tell anyone else what they had learned so their knowledge didn’t help the others. “Finally, one day Haw (one of the little people) began laughing at himself. ‘Look at us! We keep doing the same things over and over again and wonder why things don’t get better.’” So, short story shorter, all the characters eventually realized that ‘change happens’ and to survive it must be dealt with – and the sooner the better! Here are some ‘nuggets’ from the book. (Remember that CHEESE IS WHATEVER YOU WANT IN LIFE):

* If you do not change, you can become extinct.
* Ask yourself this question: What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
* Smell the Cheese often so you know when it is getting old.
* When you move beyond your fear, YOU FEEL FREE.
* Imagining yourself enjoying new Cheese even before you find it, leads you to it.
* The quicker you let go of old Cheese, the sooner you find new Cheese.
* It is safer to search in the Maze than remain in a Cheeseless situation.
* Old beliefs do not lead you to new Cheese.
* When you see that you can find and enjoy new Cheese, you change course.
* Noticing small changes early helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.

1. Change Happens (they keep moving the Cheese)
2. Anticipate Change (get ready for the Cheese to move)
3. Monitor Change (smell the Cheese often so you know when it’s getting old)
4. Adapt to Change Quickly (the quicker you let go of the old, the sooner you can enjoy the new)
5. Change (move with the Cheese)
6. ENJOY Change (savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of the new Cheese)
7. Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy It Again and Again (they keep moving the Cheese you know)

Cheese will never look the same to me again! Are you ready to find new Cheese?

THE END

…or is it a new beginning?