WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

I wonder if anyone has ever heard of Elisha Gray?  I’m sure with Google, some of you already have the answer!!

🙂

Elisha Gray was an inventor in the late 1800’s.  In fact, he became quite famous for one thing.  He filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the telephone…3 hours after Alexander Graham Bell had filed an identical application!

The year was 1876, and I’m quite certain  Mr. Bell had no idea how this invention would change the world!  And change the world it did!  But, if you research what happened in the years following that invention, you’ll discover hundreds of changes to his original idea.  In fact, what we use today has little resemblance to what was invented in 1876. 

Change…it’s everywhere, and it impacts every life!

Think about it for a moment.  What would life be like if we still used a telephone similar to this one?

As a child, I can remember my parents talking about something they called a “Party Line.”  As I now understand it, sharing a telephone line with 7 other households was anything BUT a party!  Of course it meant little to me because, as a child I was not allowed the privilege of using the telephone! 

But moving on to today, it seems life comes to a near halt if we accidentally leave our cell phone at home.  Cell phones…I’m sure Mr. Bell never had that in mind when he made that first phone call in 1876!  But in reality, we have cell phones today because someone thought “status quo” just wasn’t good enough – there needed to be change!

Perusing through the many books in my office, I came across a little book that helped me through a difficult time in my life about 10 years ago.  As gripping as this book may be, because of its brevity one can read it in about an hour.  Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths about change.  It’s an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a “Maze” and look for “Cheese” to nourish them and make them happy.

“Cheese” is a metaphor for what you want in life – whether it’s a good job (or a new career – like photography), a loving relationship, money, a possession, health, or spiritual peace.

And “The Maze” is where you look for what you want – the organization you work in, or the family or community you live in.

One of the changes currently affecting my life happens to be my journey into professional photography.  Rediscovering this book at this particular time in my life was exactly what I needed! 

Let me share with you the one impact statement I found in this book that helped me:

When you move beyond your fear, you feel free! 

And, the one impact question from this book that really made me stop and think:

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?  Or, what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?

If there’s one thing for certain in this life we live, it’s the fact that change will ultimately come.  But, we should always remember that change doesn’t have to be bad!  Change can often lead to something far better than our current circumstances. 

And so, I continue down this path of change enjoying all the excitement and growing through all of the challenges.

Wherever you happen to be in life, know this: Change is just around the corner!  How you approach it can make all the difference in the degree of wisdom you acquire from the change.

PS…I’m not sure how you feel about the image I’ve used here, but I always welcome your comment evaluations.

~ by photographyfree4all on July 21, 2011.