Who Moved My Cheese?: Learning the art of embracing change
‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ by Spencer Johnson is a captivating book that talks about change and the art of embracing it. This simplistic tale revolves around four characters residing in a maze: two mice named Sniff and Scurry, and two little people named Hem and Haw. Within the maze, they stumble upon three rooms abundant with cheese that never seems to finish. However, one fateful day, their beloved cheese disappears from one of the rooms, setting off a journey of discovery and adaptation.
When the cheese disappears, Scurry and Sniff quickly venture into the maze to find new cheese. Meanwhile, Hem and Haw complain and hold onto the hope that the old cheese will return, wasting their time and energy. Haw, realising that the old cheese won’t come back, sets out into the maze in search of fresh cheese. He leaves messages on the walls, hoping to inspire Hem to join him, but Hem doesn’t follow.
During the search for cheese, they go through all kinds of emotions — fear, anger, confusion and they look for the cheese everywhere they can think of. Eventually, Haw discovers new cheese and sees that Scurry and Sniff were already there. Spencer Johnson’s (author of the book) cheese chunks are a metaphor for what we desire in life: health, a nice career, money, goods, spiritual peace of mind, a loving relationship, etc. The maze resembles our workplace, family, or neighbourhood. Cheese doesn’t stay forever. At some point, we may all find ourselves without cheese due to unexpected changes in life and at other times, cheese supply may run out.
Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw’s stories show how to handle change. Thus, ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ explores significant and relevant life truths.
The message of this book is that life won’t always give you what you want and when you want it; sometimes things change unexpectedly. But if you can find ways to adapt and overcome your fears, then good things will come around again for you.
Here are five important lessons from this book
Lesson 1: Be prepared for change
The world is changing, and we need to be prepared for it.
Lesson 2: Move on and let go of the past
When things change, move on. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to adapt to new situations.
Lesson 3: Adapt: Be openminded to new things
Being open-minded and possessing willingness to learn are all important factors that people can consider when it comes to adapting to new situations.
Lesson 4: Learn to enjoy change
In this modern world, change is the only constant. Learning to enjoy change is a very important skill for people to develop. It allows us to make new discoveries and achievements in our lives
Lesson 5: Be prepared for continuous change
You will be surprised at how quickly things change. And when they do, we need to be ready to adapt and learn. If we don’t, then we will miss opportunities. We will be left behind, and our life will become stagnant. The author’s words resonate – “Life moves on and so should we.”
— Bhushan Belkhede
Chemical, Environment House, Bhosari
