Why You Shouldn’t Fear Change

Have you ever felt afraid when something was changing in your life? I have!

All people go through times in their lives when something doesn’t go as expected, or when things don’t go well. At that moment in life, you have to stop and think, react promptly and take the most appropriate decisions to face the problem at hand. This will allow you to address it and move on.

To help with this difficult task, I would like to share a book that I read with you: Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson. With the help of a parable, this book guides the reader in a surprising way to handle changes at work and in private life.

Where does the cheese metaphor come from?

The book tells the story of the daily life of four characters who spend their days running through a maze looking for cheese. They need cheese for nourishment and happiness. In the book, cheese represents everything you want to have in life, for example, a good job, family, health, money, freedom or spiritual tranquillity. The point is that cheese, as all things in life, runs out. The maze stands for where you look for what you want and it takes into account the time needed for that. Perhaps the maze is the company you work for, the family you live with or the community you live in.

How to face changes

During the story, there comes a time when the characters run out of cheese. One character represents resistance to change, someone trapped by his fears and insecurities. This character is in a vicious circle, and this type of personality prefers to remain in the face of negativity and refuses to develop and adapt to something as inevitable as change.  

However, the book also shows the other side of the coin. There is one character who really understands that he has to go looking for the cheese elsewhere. Therefore, he is the only one who successfully copes with change. This character represents perseverance and the desire to move forward in the change process. He realised he had no option than to get out of his comfort zone and look for the cheese.

Fears shouldn’t prevent us from doing things or continuing to live in a constantly changing world. Through the book, you can learn strategies on how to anticipate, adapt to and enjoy change, and be ready to change quickly whenever you need to.

Change as (my) opportunity to grow

I think changes in life can be a great opportunity to grow, evolve and develop yourself. Even through change, you can experience positive feelings. And even when dealing with fears and insecurity, you can learn something new. The success or failure of dealing with change will be determined by your attitude. Taking into account the story, I think life is a maze of many passages where we have to find our way. Sometimes it will be difficult, but the most important thing to remember is not to stop and to always have a good attitude. Only in this way we can enjoy the process of change.

Based on my personal experience, I can share with you the most important change I experienced in my life. Almost four years ago, I decided to move to Madrid to finish my degree and continue developing myself professionally. For me the situation was hard: new university, new home, new life. And what was hardest for me: living far from my family. At first I didn’t enjoy the change until I understood that this was a big opportunity to grow, get to know a nice city and have better professional opportunities. After almost four years, I think this is the best decision I have ever taken. I like my life in Madrid, and I’m happy to work here. I know that I missed out on a lot of things when I left my hometown, but I also know that I have won many others.