For my 100th review I decided to ’KISS’, (keep it short & sweet), and write about a short 94 page book called WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? that was written by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard, (in September 1998). Dr. Johnson says the idea for the book came from a joke his son told, ’What do you call cheese that’s not yours?’ He didn’t know so his son said, ’Nacho Cheese!’. He said that this reminded him of ’how much fun he use to have with cheese’. I thought my 100th review should be fun and so I pulled out my book and wrote this review for you.
One cannot have fun without paying for it. I am going to make you pay for it by making you think because this book everyone who reads it will come to a different conclusion, relate to a different character and situation. Some people who have read the book love it, (like me), while others hate it. I hope if you have read the book you will leave me a comment on what you thought of it.
THE CHAPTERS:
1) Introduction
2) Table of Contents
3) Parts of All of Us
4) The Story Behind the Story
5) A Gathering in Chicago
6) The Story of Who Moved My Cheese:
Four Characters
Finding Cheese
No Cheese!
The Mice: Sniff & Scurry
The Littlepeople: Hem & Haw
Meanwhile, Back In The Maze
Getting Beyond Fear
Enjoying The Adventure
Moving With The Cheese
The Handwriting On The Wall
Tasting New Cheese
Enjoying Change!
7) A Discussion: Later That Same Day
8) Share It With Others
9) About The Authors
MY REVIEW:
The story is very basic. There are only four characters: Sniff, Scurry, (who are the mice), Hem and Haw, (2 small people).
They all are looking for the big cheese. They believe that once they have found their cheese their life will change and become better than it has been in the past. The world they live in now is their ’comfort zone’ but they covet more things.
Daily they all return to their ’feeding stations’ to eat their cheese. They eat so much their bellies almost burst.
They are content, fat and very full things begin to change around. One day they return to their ’feeding station’ to discover the cheese is not there.
As I read the book I found out how each character dealt with their cheese.
The authors want everyone who reads the book to identify with one of the characters. Once you do you pretend how you would cope if you were in the same position.
You do this by pretending that the cheese is your job. You have been working for the same Company doing the same job for many years. Suddenly the Company decides they are not making enough money and they are going to let some of their staff go. You department will be closing and you will loose your job.
By pretending you are one of the characters you will learn how you cope with the changes in your life.
Are you a person who believes that ’when one door closes a new and better door opens’? Do you go to your bedroom and go to bed and stay there moping? Do you pray for a miracle to happen and leave your fate in the hands of G-D?
What ever type of person we are we know in our heads that the cheese as we knew it is never coming back.
IN THE BOOK:
Sniff and Scurry are quite satisfied with their daily meal of cheese. They are always planning and thinking because they know that the cheese might not be there one day. The mice have running shoes ready so they can go through the maze to find more cheese. These characters show the importance of always being ready, (like preparing for a tornado or earthquake if you live in that zone), for what the cards of life have in store for you. These mice don’t sit and wait for the time to come, to move on and take a new and different path.
Hem and Haw assume that the cheese will always be there. When their cheese vanishes they sit around thinking about what to do. They hope that the cheese will come back. Haw finally decides the cheese is not going to come back and he has to do something about it. He goes into the maze to look for some cheese. He hopes his friend will join him. Haw’s path isn’t easy but he moves past his fears and finds a new type of cheese. Haw learns many important lessons along the way. Hew writes each lesson down on a wall for Hem to see if he decides to follow him.
WHAT I LEARNED:
By working through the book you may feel like a child again. If you do ’play along’ you will learn a lot.
Change happens all the time. If they didn’t my ’world’ would become stagnant like water that doesn’t move.
I must anticipate change and be prepared for when it does.
I must watch what is happening around me by using my senses to ’feel if a change is about to happen, (like ’smelling the cheese to see if it’s getting old).
When a change happens I must accept it quickly and get on with my life as quick as I can. The sooner I can do this is when I can begin to enjoy ’my new life’.
I SUGGEST:
You and your friends and/or family read this book and then have a meeting to discuss what you learned.
I bought the book at a garage sale for $4.00 CAD
ID#9-780399#144462
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