Spencer Johnson

What is my cheese? How can I find my cheese?  How to keep my Cheese fresh and sufficient? Piles of questions just gush out of my head as water on the edge of the waterfall. I firstly read this book it was on my senior school years, seemed a long long time ago, I could only remembered I have read this book and some people are finding their Cheese in a maze, nothing else left at all. But today, when I picked it up again, I found the difference, both the book and my understanding.

At the beginning, some former classmates are gathering together and discussing their changes and one of them tell the story to the rest of the people.

Life sure turned out differently than I thought it would when we were in school, a lot has changed but have you noticed how we don’t want to change when things changed? I guess we resist change because we are afraid of change. They all laughed as they realized that although they had gone off in different direction from working at home to managing companies, they were experiencing similar feelings. Every one was trying to cope with the unexpected changes that were happening to them in recent years.

It sure does! When I was in school I thought I might stay with my parents, live an ordinary life when I graduated, probably to be a high school teacher in our small town till the end of my life, I never thought I could live alone in big cities, I never though I might have the opportunity to go outside, an average Joe like me, who would like to provide me a chance? Involved in a business that I ever dreamed of, diamond trading, and stay in a same company for three years, how crazy I am.

I never noticed that it is the Cheese for me in the Maze; I never have a second thought of my career. For the first period, got excited, and then passion, just as Sniff and Scurry, Hem and Haw, they find their very fist Cheese, when I enjoy my cheese, I became numb and take every thing for granted, acted as they do, “ awoke each day a little later, dress a little slower, and walked to my Cheese Station C”, It’s very clear now what and where my Cheese is, I feel safe. They put away their shoes and jogging suits, and I put away my books and jettison my brain, idling away every day and turn a blind eye to the around and wear a deaf ear day after day. I lost my mind in my little so called cozy world, shut down the window to the outside world; no sunshine came into my world and no wind blow out. Suddenly, one day, when I opened my eyelid and saw many of my former classmates had lived a life they planed and dreamed of, build a happy family, do what they supposed to do, pursuit for their dreams and I already abandoned mine.

The second period, Confidence grew into arrogance, didn’t notice what was happening, not ready and unprepared for any change or lost. As Hem found out there was no Cheese any more, he screamed on top of his voice, it’s not fair. Actually, all unfairness is caused by us to some extent. I think people with strength and power will not waiting for other’s judgment, they accept it and used to it and neglect it, and could step on it. For them, it is not an obstacle but footing stone which can help them climb higher and higher. I am not an exception, I once complained a lot about the unfairness, but later, I give up complaining, because it means nothing but making me feel more frustrated.

Thirdly, the more important your Cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it. Most dangerous one is that we refused to accept the truth. Sniff and Scurry, they didn’t think of anything but finding the new Cheese, but Hem and Haw were blaming each other, their home were not the nurturing place they once were, they did nothing but waiting for their situation to improve. If you keep doing a same thing over and over again, things didn’t going better, you should know that stick to the wrong thing even worse than doing nothing.

Sometimes, we dare not move on, since there are too many uncertainties, which is we fear for, this fear will keep us where we was, till a breakout. Things changed, and they are never same again. Keep this in mind, let bygones be bygones and moving on, you will never know what is in front of you till you are there. Sometimes, fear can be good, when you are afraid of things are going worse if you don’t do something, it can prompt you into action, but it not good when you are so afraid that it keeps you from doing anything. Hunting for Cheese wasn’t nearly as bad as he feared it might be. When the truth comes out, we always find out we are amplify the difficulties. But we have to learn to balance it, it’s such a hard course that I never tried. It might be the true reason that my life is so dull and tasteless, I adapted my Cheese and used to it, as Hem want to stay in a familiar territory, when my Station C Disappeared, will I noticed that?

Last but not the least, if one is able to laugh at himself, he started to be more alive and strong. And I list this first step of knowing yourself. Haw said to himself, if this wasn’t ridiculous, it would be even funnier. When Haw left, and change his mind, he always laugh at himself, this need lot of courage of course, it’s easier to know other than know oneself. And we have the nerve to find faults on others. When something happened, the first thing came into our mind is that does he or she have down their duty, put ourselves in a safe and not related place. Laugh at yourself, accept what you had done wrong, and then make a change, we will become stronger and stronger.