INTRODUCTION
Possibly all of us have some personal experience related to this book. Companies that lacked the will to change, managers who got used to riding on the efforts of others, individuals unable to integrate effectively and then become enemies of those who helped them because they were no longer there to return to them. help; people who got used to thinking that things would remain easy, predictable, and comfortable, and who lost their ability to respond.
In the processes of change, whether at the initiative of companies or imposed by the environment, many managers who "seem" to be involved are nothing more than clay figurines that cannot withstand the slightest impact of the waters. Others "say" they are involved but apply the so-called "Kiss of Yes," they say one thing but do something totally different, visibly or in a veiled way. We fall in love with "Management Teams" that are not teams, but groups that stick together in pursuit of their own interests, and then become anchors instead of engines.
When things deteriorate, instead of coalescing around the team and coming up with fresh ideas, they jump out of the boat and later lament that they have not continued to be "protected" to maintain their modus vivendi, they betray their ideals and principles, and blame others of his misadventures. They lack the courage to take their own responsibility in the process. It is desirable to meet these individuals early. When not detected in time, they can cause great damage to organizations, and even threaten their survival.
On the other hand, there are those with an agile mind and willingness to change, people who either have little to lose, or who make the decision to be true actors in the competitive adaptation process; where their mental processes are rather focused on trying and developing new things, which are far from the usual "It has always been done this way" and leave no room to think that the old methods will always be better or that time will take care of solving the problems. stuff. They are willing to change their paradigms and are able to see beyond their actions.
This type of person assumes a different attitude towards problems. Instead of talking, planning and controlling, they take action by taking steps that lead to the expected results. They make decisions even if they don't have all the necessary information or the ideal conditions exist; They trust their intuition and rely on the assertiveness provided by their knowledge and experience. It does not underestimate the competition, it is prone to innovation and has a different approach to the customer; Instead of seeing it as a gray entity that does not deserve dedicated attention, it focuses its activities on creating an association with it, listening to its needs to transform the products and services it generates. They are dissatisfied with the Status Quo but proactive in the way they exercise their leadership.
93% of all inventors and scientists that have existed since the beginning of mankind are alive today. This guarantees that if something is and will be a constant that will accompany us for many years - it is change. Our attitude towards change will be, over time, much more important than our skills to face these challenges.
Let's avoid falling into that comfort zone that leads us to focus inward and induces us to do what we want, instead of what we must; focus on improving our competitiveness, our customer responsiveness, and our future success.
WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?
It is the fabled reality of a complex organizational process imposed by the forces of change and the pressures of the environment, which includes aspects such as: Prevent and Prepare, Management and Organizational Strategy, Management Commitment, Principles, Personal Quality, Character, change of Paradigms., Vision; and a good dose of bravery.
Rogelio Carrillo Penso
THE HISTORY
Once upon a time, not long ago, a very distant country where lived four little individuals who ran through a Labyrinth looking for the Cheese that would feed them and keep them happy.
Two were mice named "Scent" and "Runner," and the other two were little men, beings as small as mice but who looked and acted like people today. Their names were "Resentido" and "Laughing."
Due to their tiny size, it would be easy to miss what they were doing, but if we looked closely, we could discover the most incredible things.
Every day the mice and the little men spent a lot of time in the Labyrinth in search of their special Cheese. The mice, Oledor and Corredor, although they had good instincts, only had rudimentary rodent brains. They looked for the hard cheese they liked, just like all mice do.
The two little men, Resentful and Laughing, used their brains, full of beliefs and assumptions, to search for a much more sophisticated type of Cheese, Cheese with a capital Q that they thought could make them feel happy and successful. Although both mice and little men were different, they both had something in common: every morning they dressed in their walking clothes and exercise shoes, left their houses, and ran to the Labyrinth in search of their favorite Cheese. The Labyrinth was a skein of corridors and rooms, some containing delicious Cheese. But there were dark bends and blind streets that led nowhere. It was easy for anyone to get lost.
However, for those who learned the way, the Labyrinth had secrets that led them to enjoy life better.
The mice, Smelter and Runner, had only simple minds, so they used inefficient trial and error to get the Cheese.
Smelter sniffed in whatever direction the Cheese might be, using his big nose, and Runner ran to get it. As expected, they ran into dead ends, slammed into walls, and got lost. The two little men, Resentful and Laughing, however, had complex brains with beliefs and emotions that made life in the Labyrinth more complicated but challenging. They relied on more sophisticated methods of finding cheese that depended on their thinking skills and learning from their experiences, although their abilities were sometimes clouded by the way they perceived things.
Eventually, one day, and each in their own way, they all discovered what they were looking for, each found just the type of Cheese they wanted at the end of a corridor, at Q Cheese Station.
Every morning from that day on, the mice and the little men dressed in their walking gear and headed to Quesera Q Station. It wasn't long before it became a routine.
Oledor and Runner kept getting up early to run through the Labyrinth, always following the same route. Upon reaching their destination, the mice took off their running shoes, tied their braids, and hung them around their necks so they could get them quickly if necessary. Then they enjoyed the Cheese.
At first Resentful and Laughing also ran through the Labyrinth towards Q Cheese Station to enjoy the tasty bites that awaited them. But after a while, the little men chose a different routine. Resentful and Laughing they began to get up a little later each day, bathed, dressed and walked to Q Cheese Station. After all, they knew where the Cheese was and how to get to it.
They had no idea where the Cheese came from or who put it there. They just assumed the Cheese would be there. As soon as Resentido and Laughing arrived at Q Cheese Station each morning, they settled down and made themselves comfortable. They hung up their walking clothes, put away their running shoes and put on their slippers. They became truly comfortable now that they had found the Cheese.
"This is great," he said Resentfully, "There is enough Cheese here to last us a lifetime." The little men felt very happy and successful, and they felt that now they really had security. It was not long until Resentido and Laughing considered that the Cheese they found at the Q Cheese Station was their Cheese. There was such a quantity in storage that they decided to build their houses in the neighborhood to be closer to the Cheese, and they made a whole social life around it.
To feel more at home, Resentido and Laughing decorated the walls with appointments and even drew pictures of Cheese around them that made them smile. One read: "HAVING CHEESE MAKES HAPPINESS."
Sometimes Resentful and Laughing would take their friends to see their pile of Cheese at the Q Cheese Station, they pointed at it with pride while commenting: "Good Cheese, right?" Sometimes they shared it with their friends, and sometimes they didn't. "We deserve this Cheese," said Resentful. "We worked very hard and hard to get it," he said as he took another bite. Then, as usual, Resentido went to rest.
Every night the little men came home, full of cheese, to come back every morning for more. After a while, Resentful and Laughing's confidence turned to arrogance. They felt so comfortable that they did not even realize what was happening around them. Time passed and Oledor and Corredor continued with their routine.
They arrived very early each morning, smelled, scratched and roamed Quesera Q Station, surveying the area to see if there had been any changes from the day before. Then they sat down to nibble on the Cheese. One morning they arrived at Q Cheese Station and discovered that there was no Cheese.
They were not surprised. Since Oledor and Runner had noticed that the cheese levels had been decreasing, they were prepared for the inevitable and instinctively knew how to react.
They looked at each other, took the walking shoes that they had conveniently hung around their necks, put them on their feet and tied them.
The mice did not exaggerate the analysis of the problem; neither were they pressured by complex beliefs. For the mice, the problem and its solution were obvious. The situation in Quesera Q Station had changed, so Oledor and Corredor decided to change.
They both took one look at the Labyrinth, then Oledor raised his nose, sniffed, and signaled to Runner who shot through the Labyrinth, while Oledor followed him as close as possible. They were again in search of New Cheese.
A little later in the morning, Resentful and Laughing arrived at Quesera Q Station. They hadn't been paying attention to the little changes that had been happening day by day, so they assumed their Cheese would be there. They were not prepared for what they found.
"What! No Cheese?" he yelled Resentfully, and went on yelling "No Cheese! There's no cheese!" as if thinking that if he screamed loud enough someone would replace him.
"Who Moved My Cheese?" he yelled in a harsh voice, "It's not fair!"
Meanwhile, Risueño only managed to shake his head in disbelief. He had also counted on finding Cheese at Cheese Station Q. He stood for a long time, as if frozen by shock. He did not feel ready to face this. Resentful he was shouting something but Laughing didn't want to hear it. He did not want to face what was before his eyes, so he disconnected from everything.
The behavior of the little men did not seem very appropriate or productive, but it was understandable. Finding Cheese was not easy and meant much more to the little men than just a source of daily food. Finding Cheese was the way little men understood happiness. They had their own ideas about what Cheese represented to them, depending on each flavor.
For some, finding Cheese was synonymous with having material things. For others it was having good health or developing a spiritual sense of well-being.
For Risueño, Cheese only meant security, a family that loved him, and a little house on Cheddar Street. For Resentido, Cheese meant becoming The Big Cheese in charge of other little men and owning a great mansion at the top of Camembert Hill.
Because Cheese was so important to them, the two little men took a long time deciding what to do. The only thing they could think of was how to search around the Q Cheese Station to see if all the cheese had really disappeared.
While Oledor and Corredor had started quickly, Resentido and Laughing continued to complain and murmur. They shouted and raged at such an injustice. Laughing began to get depressed. What would happen if they didn't have Cheese for tomorrow? He had already made plans counting on that Cheese.
The little men couldn't believe it. How could this happen? No one had warned them. It was not correct; that was not the way things were supposed to happen.
Resentful and Laughing they went home that night hungry and discouraged, but before leaving, they wrote on the wall:
The next day Resentido and Laughing left their houses and returned to Quesera Q Station, where they still hoped to find their Cheese.
But the situation had not changed, the Cheese was no longer there. The little men didn't know what to do. Laughing and Resentful froze, immobile as two statues.
Giggling closed his eyes as tightly as he could and put his hands over his ears. The only thing he could think about was blocking everything, forgetting everything. He didn't want to accept that the cheese quota had been gradually reduced. He believed that suddenly someone had moved him.
Risueño analyzed the situation over and over again and gradually his complex mind, with its great load of beliefs, took shape. "For what reason did they do this to me?" he claimed, "What is really going on here?" Finally he opened his eyes, looked around and said, "By the way, where are Oledor and Corredor?" Do you think they know anything? " Resentful, he replied, «How can they know, they are nothing but vulgar mice that only respond to events.
We are little men, we are special. We are the ones who should clarify what is happening, and also, we deserve better. This should not happen to us, and if it does, we should at least have some reward. " "Why should we have a reward?" Laughing asked.
"Because we deserve it," exclaimed Resentful.
"What do we deserve?" Risueño wanted to know.
"We deserve our Cheese"
"Why?" asked Laughing
"Because we didn't cause this problem," said Resentful. "Someone else did it and we should be reasonably compensated" Risueño suggested, "Maybe we should stop analyzing the situation so much and go out and find New Cheese."
"Oh No," he responded Resentfully, "I'm going to get to the bottom of this matter."
While Resentful and Laughing were still trying to decide what to do, Oledor and Runner were already on their way. They went deep into the Labyrinth, up and down corridors, looking for the cheese in every Quesera Station there were. They didn't think of anything other than finding New Cheese. They found nothing until they delved deep into areas of the Labyrinth where they had never been before: Quesera Station N.
They screamed with satisfaction. They had found what they had been looking for so eagerly: a large supply of New Cheese. They could hardly believe their eyes, it was the largest warehouse the mice had ever seen. Meanwhile, Resentido and Laughing were still in the Q Cheese Station evaluating their situation, they were already beginning to suffer the effects of the lack of cheese. They were frustrated and upset and blamed each other for the situation they had fallen into.
From time to time Laughing thought of his mouse friends, Oledor and Corredor, and wondered if they had found cheese. What he really believed was that they should be going through a very difficult situation, since running through the Labyrinth caused a lot of uncertainty; but he consoled himself because he thought the problem would only last a little while. Sometimes Risueño imagined Oledor and Corredor finding New Cheese and enjoying it. I was thinking how nice it would be to start the adventure of looking for New Cheese and finding it. He could almost taste it.
The clearer the image of him finding and enjoying the New Cheese became, the more he saw himself leaving the Q Cheese Station.
Suddenly I exclaim: "Let's go!"
"Not!" Resentful responded. I like this here, it's comfortable. I do what I know how to do, besides, it's dangerous to walk through the Labyrinth.
"It is not," argued Risueño. We've been in many parts of the Labyrinth before, and we can do it again now.
"I'm too old for grace," he defended Resentfully. And I'm afraid I'm not interested in getting lost and playing the fool. Are you?
With that, Risueño's fear of failure took shape again and his hopes of finding New Cheese were dashed. So every day, the little men continued to do what they had always done. They went to Cheese Station Q, found no Cheese, and returned home with their burden of worries and frustrations. They tried to deny what was happening, but it was already difficult for them to fall asleep, with each day that passed their energy diminished, they were becoming irritable.
Their homes were no longer the cozy place they had once been. The little men had difficulty sleeping and were constantly haunted by nightmares in which they could not find Cheese.
But still, Resentido and Laughing returned to Quesera Q Station every day.
Laughing said, “You know, if we work harder we will realize that nothing has changed too much. The cheese is probably nearby, maybe they hid it behind a wall. "
The next day, Resentido and Laughing returned with special equipment. Resentfully he grabbed the chisel as Laughing slammed the hammer until they made a hole in the wall of Q Cheese Station, peeked inside - but there was no cheese.
They were disappointed but still thought they could solve the problem; so they started earlier the next day and worked longer, but after a while all they had was a bigger hole in the wall. Risueño was beginning to realize the difference between activity and productivity.
Resentfully he commented, “Maybe we should sit here and see what happens. Sooner or later they will have to return the cheese. "
Laughing wanted to believe it, so every day he went home to rest and returned suspiciously in the company of Resentido to Quesera Q Station, but the Cheese never appeared.
By now, the little men were getting weaker, hungrier and more stressed every day. Laughing was already getting tired of just waiting for things to improve. He began to realize that the longer they were in that situation, without Cheese, the worse it was going to be. He realized that they were on the edge of the precipice.
Finally, one day, Risueño began to laugh at himself. Ha ha look at me. I keep doing the same things over and over and wonder why things don't improve. If it weren't so tragic it would be really funny. "
Risueño did not like the idea of having to enter the Labyrinth again, because he knew that he would get lost and had no idea where he would find Cheese; but he had to laugh at his madness when he began to realize what his fears are doing to him.
He asked Resentful, "Where did we put our Aerobics clothes and our running shoes?" It took them a long time to find them because they had saved everything when they found the Q Cheese Station thinking that they were not going to need them again.
When Resentful saw his friend putting on his running clothes, he said, “You're not going to get back into the Labyrinth, are you? Why don't you stay and wait for the Cheese to come back? "
"But don't you see it?" Risueño said. «I didn't want to see it either, but today I realize that they are never going to put the Old Cheese back in its place. That was Yesterday's Cheese. It's time to look for the New Cheese. »
Resentfully he argued, “So what if there's no more cheese in there? So what if there is but you can't find it? " "I don't know," said Risueño. He had asked himself the same questions many times and began to feel the same fears that had been threatening him and keeping him tied up.
Then he imagined finding New Cheese and all those things that come with that find and that gave him new courage. "Sometimes" said Risueño, "things change and they never go back to what they were. This seems like one of those times, Resentful, that's life! Life goes on and so do we. "
Laughing glanced at his emancipated companion and tried to make him see reason, but Resentido's fear had turned to fury and he was unwilling to listen.
Laughing had no intention of being harsh with his friend, but he couldn't help but laugh at the situation. As Risueño prepared his departure, he began to feel new courage, he realized that he had regained the ability to laugh at himself, to let go and face new challenges.
He announced, "It's Labyrinth time!"
Resentful neither smiled nor answered.
Laughing took a small rock and with it wrote a curious thought on the wall for Resentido to ponder. As was his custom, Giggle even painted a picture of the cheese around her, hoping to get Resentido excited to accompany him to find New Cheese. But Resentful didn't even want to see her. She said:
Then Giggle stuck his head out and glanced at the Labyrinth. I thought, how was it possible that he had fallen into this situation of lack of cheese?
He believed there was a possibility that there was no more cheese in the Labyrinth, or that he could not find it. These fears immobilized him. Laughing smiled, he knew what Resentful was thinking, "Who Moved My Cheese?" but Giggle wondered, "Why didn't I get up earlier to find the Cheese?"
As he moved towards the Labyrinth he glanced back to see where he had been and felt its comfort. He felt drawn into familiar territory - even though he hadn't found Cheese for a long time.
Labyrinth felt anxious and wondered if he really wanted to enter the Labyrinth again. He wrote a caption on the wall in front of him and stared at it for a while:
I think about it. I knew that fear can often be good. When you fear that things may get worse if you don't do something, it can prompt you to action. But it is useless when you are so afraid that you are unable to do anything. He looked to his right at the part of the Labyrinth where he had never been, and could feel the fear. Then he took a deep breath, faced the Labyrinth, and little by little, began to trot into the unknown.
As he tried to find his way, Laughing first worried that he had waited too long at Cheese Station Q. It had been so long since he had eaten Cheese that he felt weak. Now it took him much longer and it was more painful than usual to wander through the Labyrinth. He decided that if he had a new opportunity, he would adapt to the change sooner. That would make things easier.
Then Giggle gave a weak smile as he thought, Better late than never.
In the days that followed, Risueño found little traces of cheese here and there, but nothing that lasted too long. He had hoped to find enough Cheese to carry Resentful a bit and thus motivate him to enter the Labyrinth. But Risueño still didn't feel confident enough. He had to admit that the Labyrinth was very messy. Things seemed to have changed since the last time he toured it.
Just when he thought he was making progress, he got lost in the corridors. His progress seemed two steps forward and one step back. It was challenging, but he had to admit that being in the Maze again, searching for Cheese wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.
As time passed, he began to wonder if finding New Cheese was a realistic goal. He wondered if this wasn't too big of a bite to chew. Then he laughed, realizing that at the moment, there was nothing to bite.
Every time he began to feel disheartened he reminded himself what he was doing, no matter how uncomfortable he was at the moment, it was actually much better than staying in a Cheeseless situation. He was starting to take control, instead of just letting things happen to him.
Then he reminded himself, if Oledor and Runner could carry on, so could he.
A little later, while Giggling was recapping, he realized that the Cheese in Cheese Station Q had not simply disappeared overnight, as he once thought. The amount of cheese in there near the end had been shrinking and what was left was stale, no longer tasting good. Mushrooms had begun to proliferate on the Old Cheese, although he hadn't noticed. He had to admit, however, that if he had wanted to, he would have realized what was coming, but he wouldn't.
Now he realized that the change would not have taken him by surprise if he had been monitoring what was happening and had been able to anticipate. Maybe that was what Oledor and Corredor had been doing.
He stopped for a moment to rest and wrote on the wall of the Labyrinth.
After a while, after not finding Cheese in what seemed like an eternity, Risueño passed in front of a Cheese Station that looked promising. When he entered, however, he was very disappointed when he discovered that the Cheese Station was empty.
This feeling of emptiness has happened to me too many times, he thought. It made him want to give up.
Laughing was losing his physical stamina. He knew he was lost and was afraid he would not survive. The desire to return to Cheese Station Q returned. At least, if he could return, Resentido would be there, he would not be alone. Then he asked himself the question again: "What if I were not afraid?"
He was afraid more often than he dared to admit. He wasn't entirely sure what he was afraid of, but in these weak conditions, he now knew that what he feared most was the loneliness of the road. Laughing didn't know it, but he was behind because the weight of his beliefs affected him.
Laughing wondered if Resentful had decided to continue, or if he was still paralyzed by his fears. Then he remembered the times he had felt at ease in the Labyrinth, it was when he was making progress. He wrote on the wall, knowing it was more of a reminder to himself as a sign to his Resentful friend, who would one day follow him:
Laughing looked down the dark hallway and became aware of his fears. What was ahead? Was the Labyrinth empty? Or worse, were there dangers lurking? He began to imagine all kinds of creepy things that could happen to him. He was scaring himself to the extreme.
Then he laughed at himself. He realized that his fears were making things more difficult, so he did what he would have done if he had not been afraid, he ventured in a new direction.
As he ran down the new corridor he started to smile. He still didn't realize it, but he was discovering what nurtured his soul. He was getting carried away and trusting in what lay ahead, although he still didn't know exactly what it meant.
To his surprise, Risueño began to enjoy more and more. "Why do I feel so good?" he wondered. "I don't have cheese and I don't know where I'm going."
It wasn't long before she realized why she felt so good. She stopped and wrote on the wall:
Laughing, he realized that he had been held captive by his own fear. Moving in a new direction had rejuvenated him.
Now I felt a gentle breeze blowing through that part of the Labyrinth and it was refreshing. He took a few deep breaths and felt a new vigor. Once he had overcome the feeling of fear, things looked much more pleasant than he once thought they could be.
He hadn't felt like this in a long time, had almost forgotten what he was like.
To make things better, Risueño began to draw an image in his mind. He saw himself in great detail sitting in the middle of his favorite cheeses - from Cheddar to Brie! He saw himself eating the cheeses he liked, and he liked what he saw. Then he imagined when he would enjoy all those extraordinary flavors.
The clearer the image of the New Cheese, the more real it felt, and the more I felt like I was going to find it. Wrote:
"Why didn't I do this before?" Risueño wondered.
Then he ran through the Labyrinth with greater strength and agility. It wasn't long before he discovered a Cheese Station and he was more excited when he discovered small pieces of New Cheese near the entrance. They were types of Cheese that I had never seen, but they looked excellent. He tried them and they were delicious. He ate most of the bits he found and stuffed some in his pockets for later and maybe to share with Resentful. He began to regain his strength.
He entered the Quesera station excited, but to his surprise, he found it was empty. Someone had already been there and had only left small pieces of New Cheese.
He realized that if he had started the road earlier, he might have been able to find a large quantity of New Cheese in that place.
He decided to go back and ask Resentido if he was ready to accompany him.
As he retraced his steps, he stopped and wrote on the wall:
After a while, Laughing managed to get back to Quesera Q Station and found Resentido. He offered him his pieces of New Cheese but was rejected.
Resentful, he appreciated his friend's gesture, but said: «I don't think I would like this New Cheese. It is not the same one I am used to. The one I want is my own Cheese back and I'm not going to change until I get what I want. " Laughing shook his head in disappointment and decided to leave. As he returned to the far end of the Labyrinth, he realized that he was missing his friend, but at the same time he enjoyed what he was discovering. Long before he found a large New Cheese store, if he could, he knew that what really made him happy was not just having Cheese. He was happy when he was not at the mercy of his fears. He liked what he was doing now.
Realizing this, Giggle didn't feel as weak as when he was at Q Cheese Station, without cheese. Just realizing that he was not letting fear dominate him and having realized that he had already taken a new direction nourished him and gave him strength.
Now he knew it was only a matter of time before he found what he needed. In fact, she was aware that she had already found what she was looking for.
He smiled as he thought that:
Again he realized that what we fear is never as bad as we imagine. The fear that we allow to dominate us is much worse than the real situation.
He had been so afraid of never finding Cheese again that he hadn't even made an attempt to look for it. But since the beginning of his tour, he had found enough cheese in the corridors to keep him going. Now I expected to find more, but just looking ahead was already motivating.
His thinking had been clouded by his worries and his fears. I used to think about what it meant to not have enough cheese, or to last long enough. I thought more about what could go wrong than what could go right. But that had changed since her return from Quesera Q Station.
Before I thought that the Cheese could not move and that the change was not right. Now he realized that it was natural for change to happen, whether we expected it or not. Change can only surprise us if we do not expect or seek it. When he realized that he had changed his beliefs, he paused to write on the wall:
Laughing hadn't found Cheese yet, but as he ran through the Labyrinth he began to think about what he had learned.
He found that his new beliefs motivated new behaviors. He was behaving differently than when he insisted on returning to the Cheese Station without cheese.
He realized that when you change what you believe, you change what you do.
One can believe that the change is going to hurt him and he resists. Or one may believe that finding New Cheese will help him embrace change. It all depends on what one chooses to believe.
He approached the wall and wrote:
Risueño knew that right now he would be in better physical condition if he had embraced the change earlier and left Quesera Q Station earlier. She would feel stronger in body and spirit and in a better condition to face the challenge of searching for New Cheese. In fact, you probably would have already succeeded if you had anticipated the changes, rather than wasting time denying that the change had already happened.
He summoned his will and decided to continue to new areas of the Labyrinth. He found small pieces of Cheese here and there and this gave him a chance to regain his strength and confidence.
As he recapitulated where he had been, Giggle felt good having written on the walls in many places. He trusted that this would be a guide for Resentido when he finally decided to accompany him and leave the Q Cheese Station.
All he hoped was that he was headed in the right direction. He thought about the possibility that Resentful would read The Writings On The Wall, and get his way.
He decided to write some of his latest thoughts on the wall:
NOTING SMALL CHANGES IN TIME HELPS US ADAPT TO THE BIG CHANGES TO COME
By now, Risueño had shed the past and embraced the present. He continued through the Labyrinth with even greater strength and speed. It wasn't long without it happening. When it seemed like he had been in the Labyrinth for an eternity, his adventure - or at least part of his journey - ended quickly and happily.
Risueño got New Cheese at Cheese Station N!
When he entered, he was dazzled by what he saw. Stacked everywhere was the largest assortment of Cheese I had ever seen. He did not recognize everything he saw, some types of cheese were totally new to him. Then he imagined for a moment if this was real or just his imagination, until he saw his friends Oledor and Corredor. Oledor welcomed Risueño with a slight gesture of his head. Runner greeted him by moving one of his legs. Their tummies were plump and showed that they had been there for a long time.
Risueño made the usual greetings and began to bite into each of his favorite varieties of Cheese. She took off her running shoes and her Aerobics clothes and put them close by in case she needed them. Then she jumped to the New Cheese. Once satisfied, he raised a piece of Queso Fresco and invited a "Hooray for Change!"
THE LEARNING
While enjoying the cheese, Risueño reflected on what he had learned. He realized that while he was afraid to change, he had been holding on to the illusion of an Old Cheese that no longer existed.
What made it change? Was it the fear of starvation? Laughing thought, Well, that helped a bit. Then he laughed when he realized that he had started to change the moment he learned to laugh at himself and what he was doing wrong. He became aware that the fastest way to change is to realize our follies - then it is that we can detach and move forward.
He knew he had learned something useful from his mouse friends, Oledor and Runner, about moving on. They kept things simple. Once the situation changed in Cheese Station Q and the Cheese moved, the little mice changed and moved with the Cheese. I would always remember this.
So Laughing took advantage of his extraordinary mind to do what little men can do better than mice. He reflected on the mistakes he had made in the past and how to use them to plan for the future. I knew that a lot can be learned from change:
One may be more aware of the need to keep things simple, be flexible, and move quickly. You don't need to complicate things or confuse yourself with unfounded beliefs.
One must notice when the small changes begin to be prepared for when the big change comes. You knew you need to adapt faster, because if you don't do it in time, you may not be able to adapt at all. He had to admit that the greatest inhibitor to change is within ourselves, and that nothing improves until one changes. But perhaps the most important thing of all was to become aware that there is New Cheese out there, whether we realize it or not, and that it comes as a reward when we overcome our fears and enjoy the adventure.
He also learned that we have to know how to respect some of our fears, because that way we stay away from real danger; But he also realized that most of his fears were irrational and had kept him from changing when he needed to change.
A constant change was not to his liking, but he knew that the change had become a blessing in disguise since it had allowed him to find the New Cheese; he had even found a better clone of himself.
As Laughing recalled what he had learned, he thought of his Resentful friend. He wondered if he had read some of the writings left on the walls of the Labyrinth. Had Resentful decided to let go and start moving at some point? Had he ventured into the Labyrinth and discovered things that could make his life better? Laughing thought he would go back to Q Cheese Station to look for Resentido - assuming he could find his way back. If he could find Resentido, surely he could teach him to get away from his destiny, but Giggle realized that he had already tried to make his friend change.
Resentful, he would have to find his own way, beyond his comfort zone and above his fears. No one could do it for him, or convince him. One way or another, he would have to live the advantage of changing himself. Laughing knew that he had left a marked path for Resentment and that he could take advantage of them, if only he could read The Legends on the Wall.
He went and wrote a summary of his learnings on the largest wall of Cheese Station N. He drew a large piece of cheese around all the experiences he had experienced, smiled as he looked at what he had learned.
Laughing realized how far he had come since his experience at Q Cheese Station, but he also knew that it would be very easy to make the same mistake again if everything was made easy and comfortable for him. Every day he inspected the Cheese Station N to check the conditions in which the Cheese was. He would do whatever he had to do to avoid being surprised by a sudden change. While Giggle still had a large supply of Cheese, he got used to going out into the maze to explore new areas to keep in tune with what was happening around him. He knew it was safer to become aware of his true alternatives than to isolate himself in his comfort zone.
Then Giggle heard what sounded like a noise of movement in the labyrinth. As the noise increased, he realized someone was coming.
Would I be resentful arriving? Would it appear around the corner? Laughing said a small prayer with the hope -so many times caressed- that his friend could finally have ……….
«He realized that there is always New Cheese whether you recognize it or not. And that you will be rewarded when you overcome your fear and enjoy the adventure.
1. Do you remember that you made a change, or took a risk despite your fears.
2. Can you name a fear that is keeping you from making changes now?
3. Focus on a change you would like to make.
4. Visualize what that change would look like, how it would feel.
5. Decide to take a step in that direction and take it.
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