Finally, one day Haw began laughing at himself. “Haw, haw, look at me. I keep doing the same things over and over again and wonder why things don’t get better. If this wasn’t so ridiculous, it would be even funnier.”
He knew Hem was wondering, “Who moved my Cheese?” but Haw was wondering, “Why didn’t I get up and move with the Cheese sooner?”
He knew sometimes some fear can be good. When you are afraid things are going to get worse if you don’t do something, it can prompt you into action. But it is not good when you are so afraid that it keeps you from doing anything.
He had to admit however, that if he had wanted to, he probably could have seen what was coming. But he didn’t. Haw now realised that the change probably would not have taken him by surprise if he had been watching what was happening all along and if he had anticipated change. Maybe that’s what Sniff and Scurry had been doing.
He was afraid more often than he liked to admit, even to himself. He wasn’t always sure what he was afraid of, but, in his weakened condition, he knew now he was simply fearful of going on alone. Haw didn’t know it, but he was running behind because he was weighed down by fearful beliefs.
Then, Haw remembered the times when he had felt his best in the maze. It was when he was moving along.
As he started running down the dark corridor he began to smile. Haw didn’t realise it yet, but he was discovering what nourished his soul. He was letting go and trusting what lay ahead for him, even though he did not know exactly what it was. To his surprise, Haw started to enjoy himself more and more. “Why do I feel so good?” he wondered. “I don’t have any Cheese and I don’t know where I am going.” Before long, he knew why he felt good. He stopped to write again on the wall: You Move Beyond Your Fear. You Feel Free.
Haw realised again, as he had once before, that what you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists. He’d been so afraid of never finding New Cheese that he didn’t even want to start looking. But since starting his journey he had found enough Cheese in the corridors to keep him going.
Old Beliefs Do Not Lead You To New ‘ Cheese.
So what was it that made him change? Was it the fear of starving to death? Haw thought, “Well, that helped.” Then he laughed and realised that he had started to change as soon as he had learned to laugh at himself and at what he had been doing wrong. He realised the fastest way to change is to laugh at your own folly – then you can let go and quickly move on.
He somehow had to see the advantage of changing himself.
He knew it was safer to be aware of his real choices than to isolate himself in his comfort zone.
I loved the question, ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’” Then Jessica added, “Well, what I got from the story is that change is going to happen – whether I’m afraid of it, or whether I like it, or not.
I see that it’s not just that they ‘moved the Cheese,’ but that the ‘Cheese’ has a life of its own and eventually runs out.
I tend to take myself too seriously. I noticed how Haw changed when he could finally laugh at himself and at what he was doing.
I guess it’s a lot better to initiate change while you can than it is to try to react and adjust to it. Maybe we should move our own Cheese.”