Thinking of a Change

The other morning, I read a book called "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson, M.D.


It was a short read, being 94 pages with pretty large print, but it was seriously thought provoking. My mother read it for her job, something that her boss had all of the employees do, and she suggested it to me.

I decided to read it, since I thought it had sounded interesting. The book deals with the subject of change, and how people are usually terrible and handling and coping with change. I knew I had to read it, since I realize that I am one of those people who, quite frankly, suck at dealing with changes in my life.

The central idea of the book is around four characters: Two mice named Sniff and Scurry, and two Littlepeople (humans) named Hem and Haw. The four live in what is called "The Maze" and are on a constant search for Cheese, the one thing that grants happiness. Sniff and Scurry are able to cope with finding new Cheese when it goes missing, but Hem and Haw work themselves over that fact that things are different when their Cheese disappears. There's much more to it, and honestly I can only suggest that everyone should read it. It speaks so many truths about change and why we work ourselves up over changes in our lives, and yet it does so in a simple way that is easy to understand.

I read it four or five days ago, and I keep thinking about the book. I thought about things in my life that I was too afraid to change, or even accept that they are changing, and I decided to take charge. Already, in just a few days, I find myself better capable of handling these problems.

One point of the book stuck out to me: The character Hem explains that he isn't willing to go find new Cheese because "He is comfortable" with how things were, even though the situation had become dire, as there was no Cheese left. The situation and the environment had changed, yet Hem refused to believe it and wanted to stay because it was what he was used to and what he knew. I reflected this on my own situations. My situation has changed, yet is still seemingly similar to how it had been. Hem did not see that things had changed, and I did not see that my environment changed as well. In a sense, I was exactly how Hem is, refusing to amend because the past was comfortable, that it was what I knew.

Fortunately, I am starting to see that it is no longer what I knew, and that I have to move forward with what is going on. The Cheese has moved, and I must move with it. Yesterday I sent in requests for information to a few different colleges, something that I should have done over a year ago. Because I did not move with the Cheese (moving on with life/college), I'm stuck in a Cheeseless place, and I'll be stuck here for a year. Yet, I'm taking this trek through the Maze head on, and I'm taking the initiative to find the new Cheese.