Dealing with Changes - Through the book , WHO MOVED MY CHEESE

WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

This one-two hour read  is an awesome recipe for anyone who wants to grow, who cannot accept changes easily, who gets stuck in life, who needs to move on, who needs to let things come way, who needs to enjoy every moment of life the way it is, who needs to not get perturbed in difficult times and so on. Yes! Just two hours of reading can make so much difference in your life. And yes, it’s just a two-hour book. The book certainly has a lot to offer, maybe for such reasons was this book the bestseller for years together.

There is a very small story describing this. Changes! Something which is not so easily accepted. We all get so used to our comforts in life that a small change makes so much of difference to us. Different people handle changes in life differently, this change can be anything in life. This can be something in our personal life like breakups, relationships, marriages, etc. It could be anything in our work life, as a change of appointment, change of assignment, change of place, change of boss etc. Someone who does not handle this dextrously can be devastated and worried. This concept has been described very nicely with a story.

There are four characters in the story. Two mice – Sniff and Scurry & two little humans – Hem and Haw. All four were fed on cheese. And they had to find the cheese in a huge maze. Every day they used to get ready in the morning and start looking for the cheese in the maze. Running here and there, searching rigorously for days, finally they found a big lump of cheese in a corner of the maze. Their happiness knew no bounds. They started eating cheese. Now, every morning they used to get ready from home, arrive at the cheese corner and feed themselves. After many such happy days, one day when they arrived in the morning, to their great amazement, they found no cheese in the corner. Sniff, like his name, started sniffing for cheese somewhere else. Scurry, like his name, took action quickly and ran in the direction that sniff could smell some cheese. Hem and Haw were completely devastated. They could not believe their eyes. Hem was in thought as to who would have moved his cheese. Their life depended on cheese, which was no more there. They didn’t know what to do, where to go. Now, every day they would get ready, come to their cheese corner and analyse as to where would the cheese go. Their life became a mess. They were depressed. Finally, Haw said that he is moving ahead to find another corner of cheese. Hem stopped him, saying that, he might not get any cheese elsewhere, and what if cheese comes back to their place one day. Hem was afraid of starting it all again from a scratch. Haw says that they will surely find another cheese if they start. Hem doesn’t listen and stays, while Haw moves on his journey to find cheese. All this while, Sniff and Scurry had already found a big lump of cheese somewhere and were living the time of their life. On his journey, Haw learnt many things. Slowly, his fear vanishes and he realises that it was not as difficult as he thought. He learnt many lessons on his journey. These lessons he wrote on the wall, in hope that these writing on the wall would motivate Hem in case he starts his journey too.

These are the writing on the wall that Haw realised in his journey: -

v  Having cheese makes you happy

v  The more important the cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it

v  We keep doing same things over and over & wonder why things don’t get better

v  If you do not change, you can become extinct

v  What would you, if you wouldn’t be afraid? Do that

v  Better late than never

v  Take control of situation

v  Smell the cheese often, so you know when it is getting old

v  Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese

Hence, the crux of the book is here: -

Change Happens

They keep moving the cheese

 

Anticipate Changes

Get ready for the cheese to move

 

Monitor Change

Smell the cheese often

so, you would know when is it getting old

 

Adapt to Change Quickly

The quicker you let go of old cheese,

The sooner you enjoy new cheese

 

Change!

Move with the cheese

 

Enjoy change!

Savour the adventure and enjoy the taste of new change

 

Be Ready to Change Quickly and Enjoy it Again and Again

They keep moving the cheese