One sunny Sunday in Chicago, several former classmates gathered for lunch, having attended their high school reunion (聚会) the night before.
They wanted to hear more about what was happening in each other's lives.
After a good deal of kidding (开玩笑), and a good meal, they settled into an interesting conversation.
Angela, who had been one of the most popular people in the class, said, "Life sure turned out differently than I thought it would when we were in school.
A lot has changed."
"It certainly has," Nathan echoed.
They knew he had gone into his family's business, which had operated (经营) pretty much the same and had been a part of the local community (社区) for as long as they could remember. {1}
So, they were surprised when he seemed concerned.
He asked, "But, have you noticed how we don't want to change when things change?"
Carlos said, "I guess we resist (抵抗) changing because we're afraid of change."
"Carlos, you were the Captain of the football team," Jessica said.
"I never thought I'd hear you say anything about being afraid!"
They all laughed as they realized that although they had gone off in different directions - from working at home to managing companies - they were experiencing similar feelings. {2}
Everyone was trying to cope with the unexpected (意外的) changes that were happening to them in recent years.
And most admitted that they did not know a good way to handle them.
Then Michael said, "I used to be afraid of change.
When a big change came along in our business, we didn't know what to do.
So we didn't do anything differently and we almost lost it.
"That is until I heard a funny little story that changed everything."
"How so?" Nathan asked.
"Well, the story altered (改变) the way I looked at change, and after that, things quickly improved for me - at work and in my life.
"Then, I passed the story on to some people in our company and they passed it on to others, and soon our business did much better because most of us adapted to change better. {3}
And like me, many people said it helped them in their personal lives."
"What's the story?" Angela asked.
"It's called, 'Who Moved My Cheese?'"
The group laughed.
"I think I like it already," Carlos said. "Would you tell us the story?"
"Sure," Michael replied. "I'd be happy to - it doesn't take long." And so he began:The Story
Once, long ago in a land far away, there lived four little characters who ran through a maze (迷宫) looking for cheese to nourish (滋养) them and make them happy.
Two were mice named "Sniff" ("嗅嗅") and "Scurry" ("匆匆") and two were Littlepeople (小矮人) - beings who were as small as mice but who looked and acted a lot like people today.
Their names were "Hem" ("哼哼") and "Haw" ("唧唧").
Due to their small size, it would be easy not to notice what the four of them were doing.
But if you looked closely enough, you could discover the most amazing things!
Every day the mice and the Littlepeople spent time in the maze looking for their own special cheese.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, possessing (具备) only simple rodent (啮齿类的) brains, but good instincts (直觉), searched for the hard-nibbling cheese they liked, as mice often do.{4}
The two Littlepeople, Hem and Haw, used their brains, filled with many beliefs, to search for a very different kind of Cheese - with a capital (字母) C - which they believed would make them feel happy and successful. {5}
As different as the mice and Littlepeople were, they shared something in common;
every morning, they each put on their jogging suits and running shoes, left their little homes, and raced out into the maze looking for their favorite cheese.
The maze was a labyrinth (迷宫) of corridors (走廊) and chambers (房间), some containing delicious cheese.
But there were also dark corners (角落) and blind alleys (大街小巷) leading nowhere.
It was an easy place for anyone to get lost.
However, for those who found their way, the maze held secrets that led them enjoy a better life.
The mice, Sniff and Scurry, used the simple trial-and-error (反复试验) method of finding cheese.
They ran down one corridor and if it proved empty, they turned and ran down another.
They remembered the corridors that held no cheese and quickly went into new areas.
Sniff would smell out the general (大体的) direction of the cheese, using his great nose, and Scurry would race ahead.
They got lost, as you might expect, went off in the wrong direction and often bumped (碰撞) into walls.
However, the two Littlepeople, Hem and Haw, had very complex brains with beliefs and emotions.
That made life in the maze more complicated and challenging.
They relied on the more sophisticated (复杂的) methods of finding cheese.
That depended on their ability to think and learn from their past experiences.
Although their abilities were sometimes clouded (迷茫的) by the way they looked at things.
Eventually (终于) in their own way, they all discovered what they were looking for - they each found their own kind of cheese one day at the end of one of the corridors in Cheese Station C.
