WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? BY Spencer Johnson, M.D.

 

Although when I select a book to read, I usually go by the title, something in this book called my attention. I knew it was definitely not about different kinds of cheese, so I decided to explore what on earth the author meant with that wording. The story is written in a youth book style and its characters -two mice and two little people- follow suit. While the mice represent instinctive behaviors, the little people, Hem and Haw, represent fear of change and ability to adapt new circumstances. The plot is simple: mice and men where living in Cheese Station C where there was plenty of cheese for everybody. Unfortunately, one day the cheese was finished and mice as well as little people became afraid of starving to death. However, while the mice did not waste time looking for answers and instead started looking for a new cheese station right away, the little men were so used to that cheese that looking for a new station filled them with dread. Days went by and Haw started growing impatient as he could see that the more they waited for things to go back to how they were, the worse the situation became. So, one morning he decided to leave Station C in search of new opportunities. He would have liked for Hem to go with him, but his friend was not one to risk his present situation for the unknown. That is how Haw’s long journey into the maze began, by him trying at all times to overcome his wish to go back to his comfort zone. “That which we do not bring to consciousness appears in our lives as fate”, said Carl Jung referring to those situations in which we are deeply unhappy but unable to move forward. I know I have been in situations like that, where the only idea of moving on filled me with panic. It was only after life circumstances left me no choice but to move on that I understood that nothing ever stays the same. But going back to the little people, after much roaming through the maze Haw finally found new cheese at Cheese Station N. Instead, his friend Hem remained stuck at Station C waiting for his old cheese to be available. Not so the mice, who had already found the new station and were enjoying the new cheese. In a few words, Dr. Johnson wanted to show us how important it is for all of us to always keep looking for new cheese. In this regard, every chapter has some very spicy sayings that are worth mentioning: “It is Safer to Search in the Maze than to Remain in a Cheeseless Situation”, or “The Quicker You Let Go of Old Cheese, the Quicker You Will Find New Cheese”.

Let’s remember that old cheese does not only apply to relationships but to jobs as well.

Enjoy.