I hope everyone enjoyed the recent Holidays. Over the New Year weekend, I was lucky enough to get together with several old friends and associates. We did a lot of catching up and talked about the many changes 2009 brought to each of our lives, some good, some bad and some downright tragic. One dear old friend had it especially rough. Not only had her and her husband lost a great deal of their retirement savings when the markets tanked, they also closed their construction company down after several very poor years. However, this is not a tale of woe; no, far from it. As many Americans have done or are doing they have rebounded, picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and found new opportunities in their lives.

Have you lost your job?  Did your business nose dive with the economic bust?  Did they erase your name off the office door or demote you to street parking?  Don't be ashamed if any of these things have happened to you.  The same, or worse has happened to millions of other people in the United States and abroad.  What is truly important is how you react to these significant changes. 

            In 1998, or there about, Dr. Spencer Johnson wrote a simple allegorical tale about two "littlepeople" and two mice.  The book sold like hot cakes and topped the best seller lists for over a year. 

            The four characters are very different.  First, we have the two mice; Sniffy, a perceptive little guy, who is quick to perceive changes to the environment; and Scurry who runs about dealing with the changes.  When the great stash of cheese disappears one day the two mice use basic instinct and move ahead.  They do not question where the cheese has gone they just put one paw in front of the other, and lo and behold, discover an even greater horde of cheese.  So, using instinct and trial and error they continue life without too much analysis or disruption. 

On the other hand the two "littlepeople" who had also been living off the cheese in the great maze are dismayed when the cheese disappears one day. In fact the "littlepeople" Hem and Haw are angry, dismayed and hungry.  The cheese has always been here Hem rationalizes, which in his mind means the cheese will come back so he will wait for its return.  No need to change his routine.  No need to forge into the unknown.  Despite encouragement from his friend Hem is steadfast and will not move from his comfort zone and seek out more cheese.  He will stay put. 

Haw, on the other hand, ventures forth into the maze.  Haw is rewarded with occasional crumbs of new cheese along the way and soon he begins to visualize a big and better cache of cheese just beyond the next corner.  Within a short time Haw is invigorated by the challenge of the search and begins to enjoy himself.  Haw accepts the premise that change is good and that the only inhibitor to having bigger and better is the limitation of his old and limited value system.   

Haw writes messages on the wall of the great maze at varying times.  At the end of the story he has reached several life altering conclusions which he summarized by several specific laws, which I have conceptualized below.

                   The Cheese Laws

1.           Accept the law of change.  The cheese will move.

2.           Expect change.  Be ready for it.

3.           Watch for signs of change.  Know when it will occur.

4.           Adapt.  Change quickly, so you can enjoy fresh cheese.

5.           Change your attitude.  Pack up and follow the cheese.

6.           Enjoy.  Savor the new.

7.           Repeat the process.  Be ready to move on. 

I know that it is frequently hard, but stomping your feet or sobbing will not bring the cheese back or get you a new corporate parking space. So, get started.  There are no good excuses for inaction.  Remember, you are in charge of your life no one else.

Have a wonderful and properous 2010

Darlene