Moving Cheese

If you haven’t read Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson, M.D., I highly recommend it.  It’s short, it’s lessons apply to both personal and work-related situations, and the advice is timeless.  The gist is quite simple:  the unexpected can happen to us at anytime.  It (an unexpected change) occurs regularly at home, at work, and in relationships.  This gist makes me think of the title of an essay written by one of my fifth grade students, years ago:  “Expect the Unexpected.”  In the case of this fifth grader, the unexpected event he experienced was a BIG one:  the early and unexpected death of his father.  I wish he knew how often I think about him, his experience, and the sentiment wrapped up in that powerful title.

I have to think the untimely death of his father changed that young man’s life in both positive and negative ways.  I’ve watched that very phenomenon unfold with the early death of my brother-in-law nearly 10 years ago.  Although we would give anything to have Ben back, his five children and widow, my sister, are stronger and more resilient as a result of his untimely death and the years of struggle that his early-onset dementia brought on.

When someone (a spouse, a loved one, a boss, a higher power) moves our cheese (throws a curveball our way), there are a host of emotions and reactions that come with that movement.  I definitely subscribe to the notion that we can and should “feel the feels.”  There is nothing wrong with feeling negative emotions when our cheese is moved.  In fact, feeling them deeply, to our very core, is I believe, the best way to start releasing them.  We certainly don’t want to stay in negative emotions.  The power lies in what we do while experiencing those emotions and in how we respond moving forward.

The Church Moved My Cheese

When the community of West Point hosts the annual Sweet Corn Festival, community members are called on to volunteer in a variety of capacities to make the event a success.  This includes working a 3-hour shift in the “world famous chicken” area, set-up and clean-up crews, and the ultimate volunteer position:  committing to being on the Sweet Corn Festival committee.  Thank goodness there are those who are willing to take that on.

Our church runs a food tent at the Sweet Corn Festival which also requires the help of volunteers.  For the past 20 years or so, I have happily worked my 3-hour shift on Thursday evening.  I receive a reminder notice in the mail, I show up for my shift, and I have successfully fulfilled my obligation to the church tent during an ideal time slot – I’m freed up for the rest of the Corn Festival weekend.

This year, I slowly realized that my cheese was being moved when I didn’t get the reminder in the mail, then received a text asking for volunteers to sign up for a time slot, then another text… When I finally went to sign up for my regular Thursday evening shift, no time slots remained for Thursday.  The only open slots were for less-than-ideal times on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Oh, the nerve of those church ladies.  How dare they change the system (move my cheese) which had worked so well for so many years?!  In the end, I did not sign up for any shift (not proud) with a long list of excuses as to why none of the other shifts worked for me.  Somebody moved my cheese.

The moral of the story?  There were actually plenty of warnings that the system was going to change.  If I had been in tune to those warnings and remembered the truth that I always preach – change is inevitable – I wouldn’t have felt such a jolt when the system changed.  Our cheese is always moving.

The District Moved My Cheese

The 23-24 school year has been off to a rocky start because the district moved my cheese.  For the past six years, I have served as the literacy coach for the Fort Madison Community School district, serving preschool through 12th grades.  Among other things, my tasks have included engaging in coaching cycles with teachers and teacher teams, attending weekly PLC (professional learning community) meetings with ELA teams, preparing instructional materials, preparing for and delivering professional development, and collaborating with administration.

The roles of the instructional coaching staff are shifting, which means that what I have done for the past six years will change.  My cheese is moving.  Our instructional coaching staff will adjust our time commitments to match what the data says:  we will focus our work on those grade levels with the lowest proficiency levels.  When the news was delivered, my inner turmoil was great, which left my internal thoughts a mess.  Those thoughts are not ones that I am proud of.  I felt deceived, angry, and bitter.  I was aghast at how such decisions could be made so hastily.

The moral of the story?  There were actually plenty of warnings that the system was going to change.  If I had been in tune to those warnings and remembered the truth that I always preach – change is inevitable – I wouldn’t have felt such a jolt when the system changed.  Our cheese is always moving.

I mentioned the fact that I wasn’t proud of my thoughts/actions in both scenarios.  I was falling into the trap of doubling down on my efforts to maintain what I was used to.  Brené Brown describes this tendency beautifully in Atlas of the Heart.  She describes our tendency to reject new information.  We may justify our thinking away, contradict it, or avoid it all together.  She encourages us to “…resist choosing comfort over courage.”

I do not want to be that person who chooses comfort over the discomfort that comes with change and growth.  I do not want to be that person that defaults to old habits that have proven to be ineffective.  I do not want to be that person who crumbles when faced with adversity.  Rather, I will continue to work to be that person who is comfortable being uncomfortable, who stays tuned in to the signs of change, and who embraces change.