Who moved my cheese?

“Who moved my cheese?” is a story about change that takes place in a Maze where four amusing characters, two were mice named “Sniff” and “Scurry” and two were little people named “Hem” and “Haw”, look for “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.

Each of us has our own idea of what Cheese is, and we pursue it because we believed it makes us happy. If we got it, we often become attached to it. And if we lose it, or it’s taken away, it can be traumatic.

The “Maze” in the story represents where you spend time looking for where you want to be. It can be the organization you work in, the community you live in, or the relationships you have in your life.

Everyone acknowledges that change is a part of their professional work, but very few of us expect and accept change as a reality in our lives. We resist changing because we’re afraid of change.

It was more than 10 years since I have graduated from university. All my classmates never thought they'd hear me say anything about fear. I always play my role quite well. What they thought of me is someone who is full of energy, having courage to face any kind of challenge. But life sure turned out differently than I thought it would. No matter who we are, what we do, we had gone off in different directions, we were experiencing similar feeling.

When I finished reading this book, what emerged in my mind was: which role did I play in this story? What is the attitude about facing change? I think I’m “Haw”. I could sniff out the situation and see the change early. But I didn’t go into action immediately. Just as I faced my former job, I served as a secretary for more than 6 years, in the same role, in the same company. I was aware of the some change in this company. The company’s culture didn’t make me feel good. It was bureaucratic and hard to face the potential problems and try to find ways to solve them. I knew they hardly go through the economical depression. I knew there is not growth in the future. And I always analyse any situation too much and doing nothing. I think maybe accept changing is a tough task. And I am afraid that if I didn’t do some changing, I wouldn’t have anything new in my life. What a horrible situation it is. This time I decided to make some changes, I quit my job, had a long vacation, did nothing, enjoyed everything. I just let go and trust what lay ahead for me, even though I didn’t know exactly what it was. Now I begin to enjoy changing; savouring the adventure and enjoying the taste of new cheese. Like the saying says “Better late than never.”

It’s an easy story. It’s easy to know the principle, but it is hard to take action. This book lets us to discover the secret for ourselves and know how to deal with change.