Spencer Johnson - Essay Example

In this light, the need to find ways to deal with challenges presented by the flurry of change in our life becomes of the most urgent and demanding. In this regard, the book "Who Moved My Cheese" by Spencer Johnson that I had recently read is addressed exactly to those who seek ways to effectively manage changes in their lives. One of the main points of the author is that change as such can not only bring anxiety, but good opportunities as well. How we perceive changes depends on our attitudes towards life and valuable things in it, which the author calls 'cheese'.

Thus, the principal message of Johnsons book is that if we begin to understand the true value of 'cheese' in our life, and develop a realistic and positive attitude to changes that seem to move our cheese away from us, we can become much more successful and effective in managing our well-being. It is not accidental that the book "Who Moved My Cheese" depicts a maze in which four characters live, because the maze represents our path towards happiness in life, and the four characters with their different attitudes represent different parts of human nature.

Trying to show readers the inherent simplicity of insights offered in the book, the author manages to convince that everyone can courageously confront change in different spheres of our life, like career, family, health, spiritual growth, etc. Now, it is no wonder that, in light of what we had initially observed, the book "Who Moved My Cheese" has become so much popular throughout the world as it addresses one of the most universal problems of modernity. And while some could blame this work on being somewhat simplistic, I am sure that most people would find it nevertheless very helpful and encouraging.

Personally, upon reading this book and taking some time to contemplate on its messages I began to become aware of how fear and psychological effects of change influence my life. I found especially inspiring the proposal from "Who Moved My Cheese" to imagine what I would do if I were not afraid, and I must confess that now I realize that there are a lot of things which I would like to change in my life, but which I have been afraid to abandon because of the uncertainty about what a change can bring.

At the same time, the mentioned book made me think that some larger problems could also be fixed by application of the offered principles. For instance, many religion-based conflicts could disappear if those who perceive their religions as endangered in the modern world were to realize that changes are not inherently bad, but, being inevitable, changes offer benefits as well. This ability of principles and approaches advanced by the author to be applicable for both personal and global realms of our life testifies to their validity.

In this regard, I can define three general conclusions that I made after reading this book and that have influenced my values and my understanding of peculiarities and demands of our modern life. Firstly, it is important to point out that one of the main traits of modernity is the complexity and interdependency of phenomena that surround us, be they social, economic, cultural or physical in nature. On the other hand, one of the main traits of human nature is the propensity for investigating the world we live in.

Thus, as for example science has a developed methodology for studying its subjects, a person who aims to