SW Reads

If you want to be inspired and motivated, ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson is a must read. The book is an art, it tackles the issues we face in our daily lives and how we can adapt to change in our work and in our life. This book will take you just a couple of minutes to read and you will not be bored one bit.

Johnson was inspired by a friend who told him the story which lead to him becoming co-author of the book “Who Moved My Cheese”. The book is about change that takes place in a maze where four characters portrayed as mice and little people who depict the characteristics of human beings. The story opens with the four characters in a maze where they search everyday for new, special and better tasting cheeses; remember your cheese can be different. The cheese in the story is a metaphor for what we want to have in life. So whether your aspirations in life are to get a good job after those strenuous years of college/university, a relationship, wealth, a big mansion, family, freedom, health, recognition/ status, spiritual peace or even to participate in a sport that you’ve always imagined yourself playing. The cheese, as Johnson would put it, can be whatever you want it to be. We all have different aspirations for our future. The maze portrays the different enjoyments of life, it is just for us to take risks and adapt to change. The way Spencer Johnson depicts the character and their encounter with their different challenges in life is incredible.

Johnson used pun as the main literary device as was seen in the names of the characters- Hem, Haw, Sniff and Scurry. The characters in this book are in all of us. When you read the book you will realize and compare yourself to either the mice- Sniff and Scurry- or the little people Hem and Haw. The characters learn to either adapt to changes or just give in. Sometimes we may act as Sniff who sees changes early, or Scurry who hurries into action or make hasty decisions without even thinking. Maybe you will see yourself in the little people’s shoes because mice are not that intelligent, Hem, who refutes and refuses to accept change as he is afraid of being out of his comfort zone or maybe you are a Haw, who learns to adapt in time and realizes that changing leads to something even better.

Spencer took us back to his high school class reunion. Reunions are a time when we get together, greet old friends and find out what your friends have made of their lives for the past 10 years. Spencer and his friends had their talk and then he shared the story of ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ to his colleagues. They were just as enthused as I was and I know you will be too. I leave this with you; an inscription found in the book by Haw, “if you do not change, you become extinct’. What is your cheese and who moved your cheese? Which characters are you? These are questions that you need to answer and how to find the answers? Read ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ by Spencer Johnson.