Over the weekend, I re-read the classic business book, Who moved my Cheese? That was the assignment from a Chamber of Commerce referral network group that I belong to locally. We will be discussing it in our next meeting. I
reacquainted myself with the characters, Tiny people Hem and Haw, as well as the two mice, Sniff and Scurry. The story 
brought back memories of the many mazes that I’ve run through in my life and various careers, as well as the never ending search for more Cheese. If you haven’t read the book, it is available as a free download in many places on the Internet.
For most of us life is a constant search for new cheese or a new Cheese Station. Most get so engrossed in the pursuit that they forget to look up at the writings on the wall. It’s not that they didn’t know some of those bits of wisdom; it’s just that they forget or get distracted in activities that they mistakenly believe means that they are making progress. For many the focus upon being able to recognize and react well to change is a lesson yet to be learned. No one really likes change; but some do a better job of 
dealing with what life throws at them.
Are you like Hem, refusing to deal with change? Do you really believe that doing the same things over and over will result I a different outcome? Are you stubborn enough to sit on one place and starve, rather than deal with the need to search for a new source of food? Perhaps you are too afraid of the unknown to even leave the safe haven of the bad place that you find yourself in. Download and read this little book. It only takes about an hour to read. Yes, it is annoying that it that much longer than a Tweet; but, life cannot be summed up in 140 characters. There are audio versions available, too; if that is more your style.
Change in our lives, both business and personal, is inevitable. Sometimes the changes are small and gradual; but sometimes big, sudden changes happen that throw us for a loop. How we react to either kind of change will greatly influence the quality of our lives and our view of ourselves. Very few people really like change. There is great comfort in things staying the same, because that does not require us to make any effort to deal with changes. That’s also not 
realistic. Life doesn’t just go on, it happens; and when it does happen, we need to react to what just happened. If we’re good at it we begin to see things coming before they happen and we start to take action ahead of things happening. We go out into life’s maze and find new Cheese.
I must admit that re-reading this little story has caused me to reflect on the fact that I’d taken on too many characteristics of Hem, I’d become too complacent with the dwindling supply of Cheese that I had and now I need to ask myself that tough-love question that Haw asked himself – “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?” I need to jump back into the maze and find new Cheese. Now where did I leave my sneakers?
I’ll see you out in the maze this week.
NormsMilfordBlog 