29th July 2024
I have read this little book by Spencer Johnson, multiple times and read it whenever any new complexity arises.
The book is about coping up positively with change.
‘Who Moved My Cheese’ illustrates the simple fact that change will happen, whether we choose to accept it or not.
The defining factor is how we deal with it; whether we allow ourselves to change or insist on staying the same.
The story involves four characters who live in a maze: the mice Scurry and Sniff, and two little people named Hem and Haw.
They find a huge source of cheese in the maze.
Hem and Haw move their houses to be near it and the cheese becomes the centre of their lives.
But they do not notice that it is getting smaller, and are devastated when they arrive at the site one morning and find the cheese is finished.
Having built their lives around the big cheese, they feel they are the victims of fraud.
Yet this only makes things worse, as their clinging on ensures that they go hungry.
The mice Scurry and Sniff, on the other hand, quickly accept the loss of the cheese and go off into the maze in search of other sources.
For them, the solution is simple: The situation has changed, so they must change.
The fable captures that moment and experiences we are all familiar with i.e., sudden, unexpected change and staying in comfort zone.
The author’s message comes out loud and clear and that is, that instead of seeing change as the end of something, we must learn to see it as a beginning.
Like, to make himself accept reality, Haw writes this on the wall of the maze –”If you do not change, you can become extinct.”
Another of my favourite quotes from the book is –”What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
And finally, here’s an advice from Haw that has helped me immensely at various stages of my life – “Sometimes, things change and they are never the same again. This looks like one of those times. That’s life! Life moves on. And so should we.”
To move to a zone of growth we have to leave the familiar and the old patterns of decoding life.
This often means facing fears as the new is always risky and creates self-doubt and a discomfort of adjustments.
This requires Learning new skills or patterns of behaviour. We need to be open and willing to change, even fail at learning.
The first step towards change & your dream is always the hardest, but once you take it, it will only get easier.
Beginning is half the battle, but once you start, doors you didn’t know existed begin to open for you.
Get out of your comfort zone, lets change and stay blessed forever.