Rating: 2.5/5.
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General Thoughts
Have you read anything before that you haven’t likely read, although Cheese is a little fun? Who moved my cheese? It is a cautionary tale about the importance of embracing change and the dangers of complacency.
Who Moved My Cheese? Is a parable that symbolizes life as a maze, where four characters search for what we desire, with “Cheese” representing the things we want.
The story depicts four imaginary characters: “Haw” and “Hem,” representing the complex and simple parts of ourselves, and “Scurry” and “Sniff,” the mice known as the Littlepeople.
In the Labyrinth and triumph in altering circumstances, we all have something in mutual: a desire to discover our path, regardless of which aspects of ourselves we opt to employ.
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Who Moved My Cheese? Key Takeaways
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Who Moved My Cheese? Summary
To nurture them, Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw are four individuals who reside in a dim, intricate labyrinth, each seeking their own unique cheese.
The maze of life can be complicated and challenging, causing things to appear clouded and overwhelming for Haw and Hem. However, they rely on their complex brains to develop more sophisticated strategies to find cheese. Scurry and Sniff, the two mice, use a simple trial-and-error method to find cheese.
Every morning, C wakes up early and establishes a routine by following the same route. After realizing that there is a feast waiting for them, both Littlepeople and mice head over to the end of one of the corridors in C Station Cheese to find their favorite type of cheese.
The cheese will always arrive later and later, confident that Littlepeople will be there in time. Every morning, Haw and Hem also start their race at C Station Cheese.
Every day, Scurry and Sniff, the mice, are prepared for what they know is inevitable. They aren’t surprised since they noticed the dwindling supply of cheese. In the morning, when the mice arrive at Cheese Station C, they notice that there is no cheese.
Scurry and Sniff, the mice in the New Cheese Maze, decided to change their long search off and before that, the situation at Cheese Station C has changed. The answer is simple for both the problem and the mice.
Haw suggests that Cheese New is a potential search option, rejecting C’s proposal. The two rant about the injustice of the situation and question how such a situation could have arisen. Both refuse to accept that the cheese is gone. Meanwhile, Haw and Hem, who have failed to notice the small changes taking place each day at Cheese Station C, are unaware.
Sniff and Scurry, as they venture deeper into the maze, stumbled upon the largest cheese store the mice had ever encountered, including the notable “Cheese Station N,” while Hem and Haw deliberated on their choices.
Hem and Haw, feeling frustrated and pointing fingers at each other for their current predicament, continue to evolve. As they witness the mice searching for fresh cheese, Haw suggests once more, drawing inspiration from them. However, Hem, finding solace in his familiar routine, rejects the idea once again.
Consider befriending his friend at C Station Cheese on the wall, “Can you become extinct if you don’t change?”. Before chiseling, Haw enters the maze and allows himself to laugh, knowing that he is finally able to move and go. Haw laughs at himself, realizing why things don’t get better and why he keeps doing the same thing over and over again. Finally, after each passing day, Haw laughs at himself, growing weaker from hunger, and living in denial without cheese, as the Littlepeople go without.
Although he had been in denial about it, he realized that instead of a smaller amount, there had been an increase towards the end. Haw looks back on things and realizes that the cheese at Cheese Station C had not simply disappeared overnight, as he had once believed. During the next several days, Haw finds little cheese here and there, but nothing that lasts for very long.
Haw decides to stay more alert now, as he expects that as necessary, his basic instincts will adapt and change, and it looks like it will happen.
After finding a few bits of New Cheese, Hem decides to go back and brushes aside his fears as he encounters many empty cheese stations. Haw declines his friend’s gesture, stating, “I’m not going to change until I get what I want, and I’m used to having my own Cheese. I don’t think I would like New Cheese.”
Haw, feeling dejected, returns to the farthest point he had reached in the maze, after finding little bits of Cheese here and there. He leaves a trail of writings on the wall to serve as a marked trail, in order to clarify his own thinking and to leave a trail for others to choose if they ever decide to leave Cheese Station C. Haw no longer fears letting go of his old beliefs and rules, as he realizes that he feels safer and stronger than ever before in the knowledge that he’s reached the point of no longer being ruled by fear.
One day, Hem stumbles upon Cheese Station N, which is filled with an abundance of cheese, including various new varieties. He reunites with his long-time companions Sniff and Scurry. After enjoying a meal, Hem ponders the idea of going back to Cheese Station C in order to assist Haw in finding a way out of his current situation. However, he comes to the realization that he had already attempted to persuade his friend to change. Hem understands that Haw must discover his own path, transcending his comfort zone and overcoming his fears. No one else can do this for him or convince him to do so. Haw must somehow recognize the benefits of self-transformation.
Discovering the biggest wall at Cheese Station N, Hem inscribes on the wall.
Hem has finally discovered the path, perhaps this time, just like Haw had done multiple times in the past. As he becomes aware of someone approaching, and the volume of the noise increases, Haw discerns what he believes to be the sound of activity in the Maze, and subsequently Haw.