Who Moved My Cheese?

Who Moved My Cheese? is an allegorical story about the constant change that happens in each and every person’s life. In the story, there are four characters: Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw. These characters live outside a giant maze, which they explore daily in search of cheese. The maze and cheese in this story are used in a literal sense but also in a more figurative way, as they pertain to life with its many twists and turns, and to our goals and dreams that we are chasing, respectively. Every day, the characters put on their gear and set off into the maze in search of the cheese.

Sniff and Scurry are depicted as mice in this story who don’t think so much as react on pure instinct. Sniff smells down the many different corridors and sends Scurry down the one where he believes cheese might be found. Hem and Haw, on the other hand, are tiny people who have intelligent minds and take more of a strategic approach, using trial and error from their past mistakes to learn new methods of discovery. While this might seem like the better option, it more often than not leads them to overthink situations and fall victim to basic human emotion, which clouds their judgment.

Eventually, the group finds a vast store of cheese and is excited that their efforts paid off. However, the mice are more reluctant to get comfortable and keep their gear close, but still enjoy their newfound cheese. The little people, on the other hand, strip their gear off, put on pairs of slippers, and relax and indulge in their newfound wealth.

As time progresses, the mice and little people develop their own routines. The mice get up early, briskly make their way to the cheese, and keep their gear close as they enjoy it. The little people sleep in, walk to the cheese, kick off their shoes, and indulge themselves. What the little people fail to realize is that the once-giant stockpile of cheese is being depleted fast, and much of the remaining cheese is starting to go stale. The mice, on the other hand, see the signs and start to prepare to venture back into the maze to seek out new cheese. They do so and leave the little people with the remaining cheese.

The little people return to the cheese as they have for many days before, but this time realize that the cheese is all gone. Hem and Haw both react the same at first and believe someone had moved their cheese all at once instead of facing reality — that their pile of cheese had been diminishing for some time now, but they failed to see the signs because they were too comfortable in their current situation. Instead of venturing out to find new cheese, they are convinced that the cheese will either return or that it is hidden somewhere in the room. They search and wait, but no cheese appears.

Haw decides that it might be best to venture out to find more cheese, but he is held back by fear of diving into the unknown and leaving the comfortable space they are currently in. He finally works up the courage to go and invites Hem with him, but Hem refuses, saying that he would rather wait for the cheese he’s used to to come back than risk going into the maze to find new cheese. So, Haw sets off to find new cheese. He finds remnants of cheese in different places but doesn’t find the vast stores of it that they had once discovered. He begins to doubt and fear that he will never find new cheese.

Then he realizes something: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” He realizes that his fear is holding him back from recognizing that he is making progress. He also realizes that he has to laugh at himself for holding himself back out of fear of change. If he had simply moved with the cheese sooner, he wouldn’t have been left behind. When he let go, trusted what was ahead of him, and visualized the new cheese in his mind, it was then that he felt the most alive. He started to find remains of new types of cheese he had never seen before and realized that if he had moved sooner, he would have probably found a lot more rather than the scraps that remained.

Even though he had yet to find the vast quantities of new cheese he was searching for, he had developed new beliefs and views along the way, which led to better habits. He finally stumbles upon the biggest store of cheese he had ever seen, and there, already enjoying it, were the mice, Sniff and Scurry.

Though he settled in to enjoy his hard-fought cheese, he kept his gear close and continued to explore the maze on different occasions, ready for big changes this time by noticing the little ones and not overcomplicating things with fear and emotions.

The ending of the story is ambiguous, as it does not reveal whether Hem ever found his way out of his old situation. I’d like to think that the notes left by Haw helped guide the narrow-minded Hem to slowly turn into a Haw. My interpretation of the story as a whole, however, is this: life has many changes and is never set in stone. It is easy to become comfortable in a current situation because you have worked hard for it. But as I said, life is always changing, and you must be ready for those changes.

Complacency and unwillingness to adapt and learn can leave you in a place where growth can no longer happen — essentially, a dead end. The unwillingness to leave that place often stems from fear of change, something many of us won’t admit to having but often point out in others. Learning to laugh at oneself and admit that a change is needed is a great first step. But sometimes the new cheese is just the old cheese with a new outlook. Sometimes we have a bad attitude or approach to certain things, and a change in that, rather than scenery, can lead to finding a new purpose.

But if the situation doesn’t change with the attitude, then you have to put the fear aside and move on to something better, or, in better words, “the new cheese.” At the end of the day, trusting in God will relieve many of the fears and worries from your mind. He, however, will not fix everything on His own if there is an unwillingness to change and grow on our part, both spiritually and mentally. Through His Word, much is made clear, and He has left us the tools to guide us through the maze. We only have to do our part and try to live a life without irrational fear. Things that scare us, like change and uncertainty, are human errors. God has the plan laid out for us, and though we still have free will to choose to leave what we feel is comfortable, God will not force His hand. Only we can decide.