...WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? © Dr. Spencer.Johnson PARTS OF ALL OF US The Simple and The Complex The four imaginary characters depicted in this story -the mice: "Sniff" and "Scurry", and the little people: "Hem" and "Haw" -are intended to represent the simple and the complex parts of ourselves, regardless of our age, gender, race, or nationality. Sometimes we may act like Sniff Who sniffs out change early, or Scurry Who scurries into action, or Hem Who denies and resists change as he fears it will lead to something worse, or Haw Who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing leads to something better! Whatever parts of us we choose to use, we all share something in common: a need to find our way in the maze and succeed in changing times. The Story Behind the Story by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. I am thrilled to be telling you "the story behind the story" of "Who Moved My Cheese?" because it means the book has now been written, and is available for all of us to read, enjoy and share with others. This is something I've wanted to see happen ever since I first heard Spencer Johnson tell his great "Cheese" story, years ago, before we wrote our book "The One Minute Manager" together. I remember thinking then how good the story was and how helpful it would be to me from that moment on. "Who Moved My Cheese? " is a story about change that takes place in a Maze where four amusing characters look for "Cheese" -- cheese being a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is...
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...one of the biggest changes in our lives. There are many different views on what being a parent would be like. We see others as parents and adopt all sorts of thoughts, good and bad. In reality everyone is different and there isn’t much that can prepare you for what parenthood actually has to offer. Many people plan on becoming parents, usually when a relationship is strong and a couple is ready to settle down and start a family. Some become parents strictly by chance. It may be an unwanted scenario that was unplanned and what some would even call an “accident.” As for myself, I have always wanted to be a parent at some point in my life, but when it happened, it was definitely a surprise to me. I expected to be much further along in my life before parenthood was ever considered. When I heard the words, “I’m pregnant,” I didn’t know what to think. To me, it was too early and I wasn’t ready. I had to cope with the fact that my life was about to change. I tried to picture myself as a father and what I would have to do to get ready. I knew it was going to be hard but didn’t really think that it was going to be as hard as it actually was. I came up with all these ideas on what being a parent was going to be like. I was for certain I had everything planned out. The reality is, I was wrong. Everything changed, and all those thoughts and ideas that I had became useless from the moment my first child was born. In the beginning when my son was born, I figured I knew what to do. At first...
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...Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life Dr Spencer Johnson Foreword by KENNETH BLANCHARD Ph.D. The Story Behind The Story by Kenneth Blanchard, Ph.D. I am thrilled to be telling you “the story behind the story” of Who Moved My Cheese? because it means the book has now been written, and is available for all of us to read, enjoy and share with others. This is something I've wanted to see happen ever since I first heard Spencer Johnson tell his great “Cheese” story, years ago, before we wrote our book The One Minute Manager together. I remember thinking then how good the story was and how helpful it would be to me from that moment on. Who Moved My Cheese? is a story about change that takes place in a Maze where four amusing characters look for “Cheese”-cheese being a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it is a job, a relationship, money, a big house, freedom, health, recognition, spiritual peace, or even an activity like jogging or golf. Each of us has our own idea of what Cheese is, and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy. If we get it, we often become attached to it. And if we lose it, or it's taken away, it can be traumatic. The “Maze” in the story represents where you spend time looking for what you want. It can be the organization you work in, the community you live in, or the relationships you have in your life. I tell the Cheese story that you are about to read in my talks around the world...
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...The Days That Changed My Life… Amanda Mathis ECPI University The days that changed my life forever were two of the greatest gifts I could have ever imagined! I was preparing myself for months leading up to those days but I had no idea when those days came it would change who I was, or even how I thought. It took a few days after to realize that all of this wasn’t a dream it became reality. I hoped and prayed for these days to come one day. I couldn’t have been more thrilled when they finally arrived. I keep thinking to myself is there anything I need to do better, what I needed to do, how my life will be different and there is no going back. All I could do was breath and enjoy every precious moment God has given me. When all else fails I know these were the days I can look back and always know I had done something right. July 8, 2009 came and what a day this was. This is the day I had my son Kelbyn and I remember this day very well. I woke up at 5 am to get ready and head to the hospital. We finally arrived at 6 am little did I know what I was about to go through. What I did know for sure was I was going to hold my son for the first time in my arms that day. By 8 am they started to induce me and this process wasn’t too pleasant. I was actually in labor for hours and pushed I know for 2 hours. The incredible thing that actually kept me going was getting to actually watch my son be born. Was it the craziest thing I have ever seen or even went through, yes it was by far? Them...
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...endless possibilities ahead of me. I could go to college. I could take a year or two to travel; maybe backpack through Europe. Heck, I could spend the summer sleeping in late and hanging out with my friends before setting off on my next adventure. The point is, high school was about to end and I was the captain of my own ship for the first time. I was about to embark on an uncharted voyage to whatever destination I desired with nothing to keep me from fulfilling my dreams and desires. At least that’s what I thought. My whole world was about to change and I was totally unaware. The bomb dropped about a month before graduation, and my ship sank like a ton of bricks. My girlfriend Christy was pregnant. Instead of being a young man about to take on the world, I was going to be a father. I honestly don’t remember how I felt when she first told me. I think mostly I was just numb. I remember her sitting across from me in the passenger seat of my Volkswagen Beetle, tears streaming down her face, gasping for breath through her sobs. She was terrified. I was too, but I knew I had to get my act together and try to be strong for us both. I mean, I was the man, right? I stretched across to her seat and tried as best I could to hold her and comfort her. I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept telling her everything would be ok, we would figure things out together, and that I loved her. I guess that’s what she needed because she started to calm down a little after a few minutes. To tell the...
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...ball drop in times square with some Imo’s pizza and sparkling apple cider. The events that would ultimately shape the man writing this were already in motion and there was honestly nothing I could do to change or stop them, and honestly even if I could I don’t think I would’ve. I knew that in just 12 days I would be embarking on a journey that was 2 years in the making. I first signed up for the Navy back in 2000 during a time that I honestly can say was a good time for me. I was a junior in high school, working at Red Lobster, had a car, and a level of popularity that I had worked quite hard to attain and would kill to maintain. I decided that the Navy was the best option for me because I knew that I wasn’t really the college type even though I was very smart but I knew I lacked the discipline to truly excel in an environment where no one made you do anything, and partying was as much the norm as pre requisites and electives. So I decided, after seeing a few friends join and have some moderate success that the Navy was going to be my future. Now you have to understand that I was a kid who thought he was fearless and the prospect of military life had always intrigued me in some way, shape, or form as long as I could remember. Plus my father always stressed that at 18 we all had to make a move that would lead us out of the house. He would always say “College, military, or job corp.” He was a self-made Jamaican immigrant who had come to America in the 70’s and knew the importance...
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...the slightest thought of staying for the mayhem that would unfold in the southern Florida town of Fort Meyers. On the other hand, there were some people who think they are tough and will stick it out. Others simply didn’t have the money to evacuate. Also, we have people who stuck it out because they were told to do so by families, there is not much a 12 year old can do to make a hard headed family member change their mind. Which brings me to my father, he was so pride stricken on sticking it out no one could tell him anything to change his mind. My brother and i quickly realized to get through this hurricane that was coming straight for us we would have to do our part with preparation as long as having each others backs during the storm. I still remember the sounds from that night the thoughts make me quiver. Preparation was all my father told us we needed he said “We will just board up the house starting by nailing down wood to the outside of the windows so debris is less prone to smash into our house. By taping the front and back of said windows, it will greatly reduce the risk of injury. After the house preparation we will get as much food, water, and gas as possible.” Of course we helped our dad board up all the windows from the outside, and tape them from the inside. Putting anything that could fly away, safely in the garage and bolting the door shut. By this point, I didn’t realize what was about to happen and why everyone had told us to evacuate...
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...Growing up in the country you could always find me outside playing with my friends or relatives. We would literally go outside the moment we woke up and would not come back inside until bedtime. Between riding four-wheelers, jumping on trampolines, and having mud fights you never knew what we might me getting into that day. I had my share of bumps and bruises along the way but I would not have changed a single minute of it. We all grow up thinking that we are invincible until something happens in your life that changes all that. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. It was a hot summer day just like any other and I was your typical fourteen-year-old girl who wanted to spend all her free time hanging out with her boyfriend. This day was no different. I woke up that morning and of course could not wait to spend time with him. Therefore, I rushed through breakfast and did everything that my mom had asked me to do before he was allowed to come over. Finally, he was at my house and we were deciding what we might get into. It was so hot outside so we decided that we would go swimming and ride my four-wheeler. We figured we would going four-wheeler riding first that way if we got dirty we could just jump into the pool when we got back and wash off. So we changed into our swim suits and headed out. Looking back wearing only a swim suit and flip flops to go riding might not of been the best idea but it was something that I had done so many times that I did not think anything...
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...Stargazing me would’ve seen me working in some skyscraper for a job I hasn’t quite dreamed up, rather than stuck in the same small town I’d fantasized leaving for so long. My mothers therapist would say I didn’t fantasize leaving the town, but fantasized changing myself. Personally, I don’t think a 6 year old dreaming of crappy coffee, which I didn’t like yet, and imagined complaining about my future boss, wanted change herself. But hey, we all have to make a living somehow don’t...
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...I believe the framers of the U.S. Constitution were essentially progressive and very much wanted to protect political principles but through a new kind of government with and ideas for the United states, I believe essential they wanted to limited power of the government, but also to ensure the states’ rights through the U.S. Constitution because of the intrusiveness of the government they previously rebelled upon. The framers wanted to create a haven for themselves to procreate and become a nation free of feudalism but powerful in national recognition. With a nation of “Young go getters”, and “can do attitudes” we find the components of a nationalism at its finest. I do not believe it was a bad thing, obviously it worked out for us a few hundred...
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...we need very special guests too, so please, stand up and welcome the greatest heroes of Greek mythology, who inspired millions of people throughout the world and time - Gilgamesh from The Epic of Gilgamesh and Achilles from Iliad. Tonight, they are going to reveal secrets never heard before and change your perception of life forever. It is amazing how the stories you will hear, happened so far back in the past are applicable for our life today. Host: Hello Gilgamesh and Achilles. You look amazing tonight. How do you feel? Gilgamesh: Great! Achilles: A little old, but good! Host: How do you like the couch? Is it comfortable enough for you? Gilgamesh: Well, my bed in Uruk was much better, but I can survive on that coach for an hour. Achilles: It’s better than sitting on the floor. Host: You are funny! I will ask to be changed next time you come. Ok. Let’s start with the serious part now. Gilgamesh, Achilles, you know that you are the most famous heroes of all time, and all the people around the world who are watching you now have read your stories in the books “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “Iliad”. Everybody knows what happened in your lives and the descriptions of your journeys. How does it feel to be still known by everybody after more than 2,000 years and be still the greatest heroes ever? Gilgamesh: To be honest, I never expected that my story will live for such a long time, and I really appreciate it. When I see all people’s faces who are watching me now and admire me...
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... It was unsettling for me to see someone who was so devoted to his father who participated in making sure that the Holocaust was able to happen. A man who Horst Wachter remembers as a loving father, Otto Wachter, who helped fight for the Ukrainians, and could never fully admit that his father was not as evil as he was. In the case of Niklas Frank, who had basically no relationship with his father, Hans Frank, and has only one single good memory with him, he never doubted that his father was innocent or did not deserve to die for his crimes. In the beginning Wachter says how his father was a committed Nazi from the beginning, that made me think he could understand that it was not good of him to be, but when he talks about how it was because his father could not say no and had to join that annoyed me. It angers me when that is the excuse some people give as an excuse...
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...Who moved the cheese? The story about “who moved my cheese” starts with a group of friends who meet up to have lunch after their High School reunion. As they are waiting for lunch, all of the classmates wanted to hear about what was happening in each other’s lives; therefore, they all began to converse with each other. Most of the topics touched over lunch, were about life in general and how most of their lives didn’t turn out the way they expected it would, instead their lives turned out very differently. As the conversation progressed they all realized that even though they had not kept in-touch throughout the years and were all going through different situations, they were all feeling the same way, afraid of “change”. All of them were trying to cope with these feelings of unexpected changes occurring in their lives throughout the years. Michael, the storyteller, starts out by telling the classmates that at one point in his life; he too felt the same way until he heard a funny story about cheese. He went on by telling them how this story changed his way of thinking and views of life in general. At this point the author begins to describe, symbolically, the manner in which so many different people in this world deal with all kinds of situations and changes in their lives. There are four characters in the story; two mice, Sniff and Scurry and two little people, Hem and Haw. The characters in the story are all about finding cheese, they treasured the cheese...
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... Elie Wiesel changes from a religious, sensitive little boy to a spiritually dead, unemotional man. His statements and actions throughout his memoir show the change in his character. His beliefs change from everything he sees, and hears through his long and horrid experience. For example “A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load-little children. Babies! Yes, I saw it with my own eyes… those little children in the flames.” What causes him to lose his faith? What causes him to hate the God he loved so much? With this in mind, Elie focuses on studying the Cabbala. Elie says “One day I asked my father to find me a master to guide me in my study of the Cabbala.” His father responds “You’re too young for that. Maimonides said it was only at thirty that one had the right to venture into the perilous world of mysticism.” He prayed to God often. He with the...
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...Although the numbers of women entering science increased exponentially in between 1940s and 1950s, the overall percentage of women among college students remained low due to the extraordinary number of men receiving degrees through the GI Bill for education for returning veterans (Bailey, 1994, p. 230-254). After the war, the number of women earning doctorates continued to climb, but the job market for women scientists in the 1950s and 1960s was still difficult, due to social pressures (such as the postwar emphasis on women’s domestic roles) and a decreased labor need (due to the availability of more male scientists), especially in the higher-level research positions (Gornick, 2009, p. 55). In this social and economic climate, women who held...
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