Who moved my cheese??

Adapt to changes….

Once upon a time there were 2 mice Scurry and Sniff and 2 boys Hem and Haw. The thing that they had in common was all of them were in deep love with cheese. They lived in a big complicated maze. One day, both the mice and the boys started to search for cheese inside the maze. All of them put on their sports shoes and started to search for the cheese. After a few days of struggle they found a Cheese Station X which was loaded with quite a lot of cheese. Scurry and Sniff and Hem and Haw were elated and amused to see their dream cheese in such huge amounts. After that day, Scurry and Sniff would come everyday to the cheese station early in the morning and have the cheese with a lot of zest. But they were aware of the fact that the cheese will not last them forever and they kept a measurement of how much cheese is left everyday and how much they are consuming. But Hem and Haw knew the way to the cheese station and would reach there everyday late and enjoy their cheese meal without any second thought. They were so sure that they are never going to run out of the cheese ever.

One day, when Scurry and Sniff entered the cheese station they found no more cheese left to have. They were sad but not shocked because they were prepared for such circumstances and they quickly abandoned the Cheese Station X in search for another such cheese station inside the maze. But when Hem and Haw came to the cheese station they were perplexed to see no cheese left for them. Hem was so perplexed that he almost broke down, when Haw reminded him that the 2 mice are not there. Maybe they knew something and they are outside excavating for better chances. To this Hem replied that they are petty mice and did not have the intelligence of a human being. He reassured Haw that he will make things like before and Haw agreed to it. That day they returned back home hungry and empty handed. In the meantime, Scurry and Sniff, after finding a lot, finally, came across another Cheese Station N, which had double the cheese which was in Cheese Station X.

The next day when Hem and Haw entered the Cheese station X, they were extremely devastated and distressed. But Hem was so sure that he can make things right again and both of them started to dig the ground to search for any hidden cheese underground. They kept on repeating this task for a few days after which, suddenly, one day, Haw started laughing on his own. When Hem asked him the reason why he was laughing so much, he replied that both of them knew that there is no cheese left in that cheese station but still they did not want to give up on their false hope. They wanted to keep on trying and trying till the last day. Hem did not pay much attention to this and didn’t reply to Haw as his mind was totally encapsulated with negation and false hopes. Haw urged Hem to stop digging and go outside to find other Cheese Stations. But Hem would not listen to him because according to him the unknown path of the maze could be dangerous. Understanding the situation and the future effects, Haw decided to find a new Cheese station by himself. While going out of the cheese station X Haw wrote this on the wall:

“What would you do if you were not afraid?”

Finding another cheese station was not that easy but it was neither as difficult as Hem had anticipated. Haw kept on with his search for another cheese station and again wrote on one of the walls:

“Smell the cheese often so that you get to know when it is getting old.”

After sometime, while running through the maze, Haw suddenly felt extremely happy. His sense of happiness was immaterial. Then he wrote something more on the nearby wall:

“When you stop being afraid you feel good.”

Finally he comes across a Cheese Station E, and feels very happy. But when he enters the cheese station he finds that there are not much cheese left there. He said to himself that only if he would have changed a little sooner. Only a few amount of cheese was left and he took some of it and returned back to Hem to inform him that there are more Cheese stations inside the Maze. He followed the path back to Cheese station X with the help of his writings on the wall. But when he reached, he found Hem sitting idle with a depressed face. Even after learning about the new Cheese Station and the potential of the availability of more cheese stations, he was not moved. He continued to stay engrossed in his deep distress and false hope of getting back the cheese in the same station.

Haw understood that it was impossible to make him understand and he continued on his journey to find a new cheese station. He kept clues along the way for Hem to follow and reach the destination in the future. He wrote on one of the walls:

“When you change what you believe, you change what you do.”

On his way, he found a number of cheese stations with very few cheese left. Finally, after encountering numerous hurdles, he found the Cheese Station N where he also came across Scurry and Sniff. He was mesmerized to find that there was a lot of cheese in this station. At the same time he was sad that Hem was not there to accompany him but he hoped that Hem will soon find his way out to Cheese Station N by following his clues. This time Haw had a lot of cheese on his plate but he did not choose to stay in his comfort zone and only enjoy the cheese. He kept a measure of the remaining cheese everyday, and he also went out to find new cheese stations for the future.

So this was the story all about. Now, a very important note here, is that for the two mice, the cheese was just food, but for the two boys it was like the metaphor of life, signifying the different elements that keep us happy in life like, money, health, good job, relations etc. There are basically five crucial points which we get to understand from this story and those which we must implement in our daily lives:

1. Change happens. They keep moving the cheese. Unless you adapt to the changes occurring around you, life will be distressful and gloomy.
2. Anticipate Changes. Get Ready for the Cheese to Move. You have to gauge the changes that may occur in the near future and prepare yourself according to it for minimal injuries.
3. Monitor the Changes. Keep Smelling the Cheese. Keep all your senses active to understand when and where the change may occur so that you are not driven away by the circumstances.
4. Adapt to Change Quickly. Otherwise you may loose a lot of opportunities that may come along your way.
5. Enjoy the Changes. Fear is unavoidable but once you learn to overpower the fear with sufficient enjoyment and enthusiasm you will find the changes to be lucky for you.

Changes are inevitable and a part of life. So don’t run away from them. Try to embrace them because if you try to avoid changes happiness will start avoiding you. Do keep following the rules of life and stay happy!!!

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