The American book Who Moved My Cheese   has been a bestseller all over the world. It teaches people how to face changes in their lives. Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens. The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don’t be afraid. Instead, use this change to make a better life. The book gives an example of a change at school. A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students.

Several teens are talking about this. Most of them are unhappy and worried. But Chris is not. He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese.                                               

The four are in a maze looking for the cheese. Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college. But they find the cheese is gone. The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese. This means finding different dreams. The little people, however, can’t do this. They are afraid of change so they find no cheese.                                        

After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing: to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly. His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself.

My husband and I used to live in the city, but we often faced a lot of problems there. There was a lot of late-night noise. It was difficult to find parking. And the rent of the apartment was high. Finally, my husband and I decided to move to the suburbs (郊区) outside Boston.

We started looking for our new home. It turned out that many other people were also moving to the suburbs and it wasn’t easy to find a nice house there. Finally, we went to see a small and dark house. It needed a lot of work. But it was well built and it was on a street where we could walk to Starbucks, restaurants and bus stops. Well, before I knew it, we had made an offer and the house became ours.

On our first night in the house, I cried for five hours. I thought we had made the wrong choice and I wanted to go back to the city. The house was smelly and old. And many families and old people lived around it. But after thinking of the problems we had when we were living in the city, I calmed down. Besides, our new home wasn’t that bad, after all. I had a driveway of my own. There were three big bedrooms and a backyard for my dog. Oh, how lovely the sound of nothing was. I changed the house inch by inch and it became a very comfortable home.

We have been in our house for over two years until now and it’s the best move we have ever made. While I’m glad I can drive into the city in 15 minutes and enjoy all it has offered, I’m always happy to return home.

How does keeping things tidy change people psychologically? You gain greater confidence in yourself. Also, you become more optimistic and calmer in the mind than before. There are several reasons for these changes: your self­image improves as you start living in tidy beautiful rooms, and you gain decision­making skills as you continue to choose between which things to throw or give away and which to keep. The way we let go of things in the Kon Mari Method plays an important role as well.

The Kon Mari Method has a step where we give thanks to the things before we throw them away. Not only would you say “thank you for sparking joy in me” to a favorite piece of clothing that you wore till it was threadbare, you would also say to a piece of clothing you never wore once “thank you for teaching me that this color doesn’t look good on me”. You will appreciate the roles of all the things that have come to you and experience appreciation for all of them. Through this experience, you will rediscover the truth that you have been supported by so many things and you will deepen your gratitude for things you leave behind.

To share a personal example, I have always had little confidence in myself. When I get nervous before a large speaking assignment, I think to myself that I’ll be fine because these clothes are protecting me and these shoes are supporting me, and that calms me down. Once you start feeling constant gratitude for your things and your home through tidying up, you will start feeling relief and calm as if you are always protected by something larger than you.