Who Moved My Cheese? (1998)

A quick, easy, interesting, fun, motivational little book. ( )

"A book with non-humans" -- a stretch, but there were mice, so I'm counting it. ( )

Quick-read parable that was not as... cheesey... as I feared it would be. It's simplistic, but I think that's also by design: it's meant to make you think rather than trying to belabor the point. However, the problem with simplistic parables is that they are simple, and life often isn't. It's easy to say, hmm, haha, they moved my cheese, so time for me to enjoy finding new cheese! But sometimes new cheese is changing your behavior, sometimes it's moving on altogether...

And I gotta say, the anecdote from the preface about the sports journalist who got shunted from Track & Field to swimming (or whatever it was)... On the one hand, sure, it isn't going to help you to bemoan an unfair situation, even if it very much is. But sometimes change is stupid, is out of touch, isunjust or unreasonable... Of course, I suppose the answer then is to find greener pastures-- er, new cheese. In any event, these types of messages always strike me a little as "go with the corporate flow and quitcherbitchin." I guess that is a thing I struggle with: I have a hard time letting go of an unfairness even when it's counterproductive to keep examining it, because even if your cheese moved because a CEO wants a second yacht, unless there's some major legal malfeasance... move on and find new cheese. So much easier said than done.

My cheese take-aways:
Keep yourself (and your skills) up-to-date. Know your options. Don't rest on your laurels. Keep an open mind and try to gain something even from dumb-seeming simplistic parable books. Sometimes you have to move out to move up (which is one I already had packed into my brain, but it seems relevant here).

And now I want a cheese tray. ( )

I knew I had read this before, but, aside from the general gist of the story, I didn't remember much of an impact - so I read it again when my husband brought a copy home from the thrift store because he had heard of it and though it might be something I might like.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the lesson of this book (reminds me a bit of "The Wealthy Barber" in the storytelling aspect) but I can't say that I, personally, learned anything particularly applicable. But I am most likely "Scurry" when it comes to Cheese...

Some days the best thing you can come up with is Velveeta -- and that is OK! I think that I would like to see a sequel "Make your OWN Cheese" which focuses on the fact that it is possible to break out of the "rat race"/maze and not be dependent on anyone else for your Cheese. ( )

This short, larger print book reminds me of "If You Can Talk, You Can Write", just for everyday life. The biggest take away for me was if you want to be happy, you have to do the work. And never let yourself think something won has been won for good. I'll likely elaborate on this more eventually, but for now, if you have a chance to read this, please do. ( )