In this complicated life, we will always go through happy, sad, depressed, hopeless, successful, or frustrated moments. The most important question we want to answer is that if we usually encounter unlucky or unexpectedly harsh situations, will we dare to confront, adapt and overcome? In the small book "Who moved my cheese?", which was written by Dr. Spencer Johnson, there is a meaningful story showing us a lesson that adapting is the only thing which is constant, and it will happen in our life whether we like it or not. If we just skim and scan this book, we may think this story is only for kids; however, I think when we spend more time on reading carefully it, we, as adults who are almost ready to jump into the pool of life, may find ourselves in each character.
This story is about four characters including two mice whose names are Sniff and Scurry and two little people whose names are Hem and Haw. To exist, they must go to the Maze to find their favorite food which is delicious cheese. In this story, Cheese is a metaphor implying as whatever we want to have in life "whether it is a good job, a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace of mind". And when they figure out the Cheese Station C where there are lots of cheeses, they start to live and shape their own life of comfort; however, an unexpected situation happened, which leads to something changing obviously. While mice keep their routine, wake up early every day to run to the Cheese Station C and checking the amount of cheese, Hem and Haw do not do anything; they become lazier and subjective.
Hem and Haw do not smell their cheeses often, so they cannot recognize those cheeses getting old. They always believe that amount of cheese will be never over, which can help them live forever without worrying. Therefore, they are shocked and unacceptable the fact that there is no more cheese in Cheese Station C. While Sniff and Scurry already leave the old station to look for the new source of cheese, Hem and Haw still stays at there to complain and blame for the life which they think is not fair. No one of Hem and Haw wants to change or adapt immediately to the situation. Otherwise, they keep thinking and thinking day by day why those cheeses disappear; they even try to dig inside that old station instead of discovering other places to find their cheeses.
When I read this story, I feel myself sometimes as similar to Haw, who usually thinks in a complicated way and does not change and adapt to the different environment immediately. for example, when I study, especially when I am doing a quiz, I often think about each question in the more complicated way, then when it is wrong, I feel so disappointed and powerless because I am so subjective. It takes time for me to change better and better. In addition, I feel like, in the past, I was sillier than Haw in this story, especially after my parents divorced and my sister passed away. I blamed and was upset all the time; I cried and I felt hopeless. I did not have any better plans, and I even thought about suicide. I was afraid of the environment outside; I felt unconfident with myself and nearly gave up studying during the final year of high school. I was deep down in sadness and stress because I cannot find my own cheese.
In my mind at that time, there was the only enmity with my dad and my stepmother, and there was also only tiredness with studying. Those thoughts made me fail in a national competition of literature in the last year of high school even though I got the third award in my second year. Then I became a C student even though I used to be an A student when I took an entrance exam to get in university. I felt depressed and scared to think about my future. However, like Haw, I realized that I need to change and find a new way to continue my life. Luckily, my mom is always next to me side by side supporting me even though inside her heart, there are also lots of scars from much-unexpected sadness.
After knowing that I need to change, everything was better. I started studying English listening and speaking skills in 8 months to prepare for coming to the U.S. to prepare for a new journey. Then when I came to the US, I also spent much time adjusting most of my routines during 17 years in Vietnam. understand that I need to be stronger and more independent in everything. I have been trying to let the past go and focus on catching the brighter future. And consequently, at this moment, I had something better in my life, which makes me feel more confident and comfortable with my life. I currently do not scare about changing and adapting to something new.
What is more, now I have not had a full-time job because I have not graduated, which means that I haven't started swimming in the deep pool of life. So, there will be more challenges which I must try to get used to with and then change to gain delicious cheeses. I always talk to myself that I can do whatever I want in the future, and I should learn more about how to confront more difficult and challenging situations. I am ready to move with the cheese and enjoy it even though sometimes maybe I will be nervous a little bit because nobody can surely predict their futures.
