A BOOK SUMMARY OF "WHO MOVED MY CHEESE".

By Fortune Kekeli.

"What would you do if you were not afraid?" _Haw.

Who moved my cheese is a short story about four characters in a maze who had to deal with an unexpected happening—they had their cheese misplaced? This simple story was written by Spencer Johnson, who also co-authored one minute manager with Kenneth Blanchard. In this book, Dr. Johnson uses the cheese as a metaphor for the things we want to achieve or acquire in life. He also uses the maze as a representation of the places we look in order to find these things.

The purpose of this book is to help us see change in a whole different light; it teaches us how to properly deal with times that our “cheese” is hidden, replaced or taken from us. Writing a summary of this book proved a challenge for these reasons: Dr Johnson's story is very precise and every sentence carried a very salient advice. Hence, writing a summary was almost impractical.

So, my summary of who moved my cheese will focus on the key lessons that can be learnt from the book— not so much on the story— and how we can apply them in our lives. But let's start with a background of the story.

The characters in this story were two mice—Sniff and Scurry—and two littlepeople (small human-like creatures that acted a lot like people); their names were Hem and Haw. These four individuals had to roam the maze looking for cheese. For the mice, Sniff was responsible for sniffing out the location of cheese with his amazing nose and Scurry would then hurry ahead in the direction of the cheese. It is well expected that this strategy would result in these two individuals getting lost or arriving at dead-ends on some occasions.

The littlepeople located cheese using their superior and more complicated intellect; however, it was quite easy to be misled by their emotions and sense of entitlement. Despite the difference in their methods of finding cheese, both mice and littlepeople managed to obtain their new cheese. And this is what happened one fateful day—they all found Cheese station C. Wow, what a place! This place was filled with an abundance of delicious cheese; there was more than enough for everyone.

Pretty soon, the littlepeople got really comfortable and a bit arrogant; they allowed laziness and complacency to set in. They regarded all the cheese as their property. On the other hand, the mice continued with their daily routine; they left their homes early and were always prepared to get moving.

On one very significant day, Sniff and Scurry arrived at Cheese Station C very early in the morning and realized that all the cheese was gone. They were anything but surprised; they were actually expectant of this day because they had noticed that their supply was slowly dwindling. Sniff and Scurry immediately left Cheese station C looking for their new supply of food; they wasted absolutely no time trying to dissect the absence of any cheese because they knew this day would come.

Afterwards, quite late in the day, Haw and Hem arrived at Cheese station C, and were utterly shocked when they discovered all the cheese was gone. Hem immediately went into a state of rage; screaming on top of his lungs the catastrophe of it all. "Who moved my Cheese?" Hem roared. Contrastingly, Haw was very still and quiet, because he did not believe how it was possible that all their cheese had just disappeared. Now, let's learn from the four characters how to properly deal with change.

Change will happen. Look out. Be prepared.

Whereas Scurry and Sniff kept close and observing eyes on their cheese, Hem and Haw became complacent and arrogant. They had absolutely no idea that the cheese supply was decreasing; to them, it was unthinkable that what was "rightfully" theirs could be "taken" away from them.

So, whiles Scurry and Sniff were looking elsewhere in the maze for new cheese, Hem and Haw were in a state of denial for days, and soon, they were almost dying from hunger.

Get moving.

Since the mice were prepared for this change, they knew what they had to, and wasted no time in doing it. On the other hand, the little people waited for so long, wishing and hoping, that someone would return their cheese. Hem and Haw just couldn't wrap their heads around what was happening. They became disheartened and kept asking themselves why anyone would do that to them.

If you didn't see it coming, it might be time to open your eyes.

Haw finally noticed the absence of his mice friends and wondered if they knew something he didn't know. He admitted that coming back to Cheese station C every morning, and hoping their cheese had miraculously reappeared wasn't a very sane or wise thing to do. Haw finally decided to do things differently: he wanted to go back into the maze and find new cheese. But Hem didn't want to hear any of that "nonsense" . He remained adamant that they were entitled to enjoy the finer things in life, and no one had the right to take that away from them.

Make the decision. Seriously, get moving.

At long last, Haw decided to look for new cheese. How did he do it? He started imagining, very vividly, what it would feel like to find new cheese; how it would look, smell and taste. Haw tried to convince his friend to join him on this journey to find new cheese, but Hem would't listen to him. Haw was frankly afraid of starting all over again; he wrote on the wall, "what would you do if you were not afraid?"

He knew that the reason he hadn't made his move earlier was believing there was no more cheese out there; and even if there was, he wouldn't find it. Despite his fears, Haw stepped into the maze.

Challenges will come.

Since it had been so long Haw moved around in the maze, he had a very hard time finding his way. He was also weak and tired from not eating for so long. At this point, he was still not convinced that this was the best decision for him. Every once in a while, Haw would find tiny pieces of cheese; he ate these, so that he could keep going. And anytime he felt discouraged, he reminded himself that as challenging as his journey was, it was practical and vital to his survival.

At least, this way, he was in control instead of hoping that by some lucky hand of fate, he would have something to eat. Sometimes, the fears and insecurities came back to him, and this hindered his progress, but he knew there was no other way.

Enjoy the process.

Soon enough, Haw realized what these feelings were doing to him— they were counterproductive. He laughed at himself, and allowed himself to find pleasure in his new journey. He started enjoying himself, so he wrote, " When You Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free! He realized the fear was only holding him back.

And instead of focusing on what might have happened if he had moved earlier, he kept his attention on what will happen when he finally finds his new cheese. He also noticed how he was acting differently— with a sense of purpose and strength; he knew this was because his beliefs were changing. "New beliefs encourage new behaviors.", he said.

You can always choose what you want to believe.

Learn from your mistakes

Haw learned after awhile that what he was so afraid of was actually an illusion created by his mind in its attempt to keep him safe. This illusion is always an over expression of the circumstances, and allowing it to cloud his judgement meant being stagnant and helpless.

Haw also learned that it was natural for change to happen; nothing ever remains the same forever. He now knew the importance of keeping track of his resources, and moving on as soon as possible.

He also realized how important it was to keep this life simple and uncomplicated. It serves no good to over analyze circumstances; it only acts to confuse you, and prevents you from dealing with change faster.

He also admitted that until he was ready to change, he didn't even stand the chance to find new cheese. Nothing gets better unless you change, he thought to himself.

To conclude...

Haw found Cheese station N in the long run. He met Sniff and Scurry , who had developed pot-bellies. They found Cheese station N a very long time ago, and had been enjoying since.

Haw immediately got to eating his new cheese once he greeted Sniff and Scurry. He realized now that what helped him change was laughing at himself for repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

I hope that you've enjoyed reading this summary, but there is so much more to learn from the book itself. I hope that you've been encouraged to read it for yourself.

Thank you for reading.