Dr. Spencer Johnson’s ’’Who moved my cheese’’ is a good book, no doubt about that anywhere. The book deals with the manner in which a person should handle change in life, adjust with it, look forward to it, expect it and then modify his life according to it. And I agree with his method of explaining, though probably not with the generalisations he has brought into the picture.
Like all bodies in inertial reference frames and molecules in equilibrium, men also tend to resist change. And some of them put up a huge resistance... for no reason, though. In the pursuit of happiness, a person may reach a state of contentment that he wants to continue live in and it is change in this state that invariably tends to be the most undesirable. This is the change that is the most difficult to accept, to expect and to adjust with.
Every person is made different. The mental make-up of everyone is certainly not the same and therefore to generalize the manner in which he should handle change is a bit of a tricky business. One must realise that the person’s mind is a precariously balanced controlled chain reaction. And if this reaction is disturbed by the change, it’ll be disaster for that person and his family. The funny thing his, if the person is not made in a manner suitable, the philosophy of Dr. Spencer Johnson might just disturb the balance.
But this is speaking as if his philosophy is a medicine to administer. It is not a medicine, and surely not a vaccine but a cultured tissue for the person’s mind. It is possible, though not simple, to change one’s thinking, perceptions, views and philosophy. And it is this what Dr. Spencer Johnson essentially desires.
He is asking us to modify our outlook towards change and shape it in a sportsman’s manner and not to use his philosophy at the instant when the change sets in. He wants you to be a bowler whose appeal has been turned down by the umpire even if his appeal was justified amd mpt a Michael Slater. Change is inevitable and almost always irreversible. What is changeable though, is your perception of change.
This book essentially asks you to change your perceptions. Are the changes he prescribes really going to lead you to an ideal state of mind? Well, ideal might be a brave thing to say, but a better state of mind... it is certain.
Dr. Spencer Johnson does indeed deliver a very good, useful and a powerful message to those who don’t want things to change.
Good job, Spencer Johnson!