Life is good, we wake up in the morning, take a shower eat, have fun come back home, have dinner and sleep. Have you ever had good time?  That is what happened in the Cheese land. It is about a story from a book titled “Who moved my cheese”. The book talks about four characters, two mice Hem and Haw and two little people Sniff and Scurry who discovered cheese in a maze! They all enjoyed the find and life was really good until one day, Sniff and Scurry found that the cheese was gone. They immediately moved on looking for new and fresh cheese.

The two other characters, Hem and Ham on the other hand, came late as usual, to eat their cheese. They realized that there was none. They complained,

they moaned, they hammed, and they hemmed, saying this is not fair, they blamed everybody, if you were there, they would also blame you. Sniff and Scurry are winners and Hem and Ham are Whiners.

What are the characteristics of winners and whiners?

Winners are optimistic, while whiners are pessimistic!

Last year, I spent a weekend with my Grandma, when I was about to leave she offered me a bunch of sweet banana. That was the only stock she had. I told her no. But she insisted and said, don’t worry grandson, before the sun goes down, I will have another bunch. So I accepted, on my way out, there was a knock on the door and a young girl walks in with a small parcel, when she opened, it was two bunches of sweet bananas. She also offered those to me. My Grandma is a winner.

Winners would turn lemon into lemonade, Whiners would turn fortune into misfortune.

Traffic congestion in major cities is common problem today. On average drivers spend two hours in traffic jam per day that is ten hours per week, translating to 40 hours per month. If you use that time to listen to educational tapes in a certain field, it is equivalent to one college semester. You can earn your degree in four years. So instead of complaining about traffic, you can take advantage of sitting idle in the car to learn something new. That is turning a lemon into lemonade. For whiners, this is what happens. Jane calls her husband Dan saying, “Dan where are you?” I am at the Corner Bar, waiting for the traffic to go down,” Dan does every day. He does not notice that he is putting on weight.  After 4 years, Dan is 10 kg heavier and married to a grumpy wife. Dan turned the fortune into a misfortune.

Winners the right thing regardless of circumstances and what they feel Whiners want to feel good before acting.

After a relaxed weekend it is finally Monday morning. Outside is chilly, rainy, and windy and you just don’t feel like waking up. This is the best time to enjoy your cozy, comfy and cushy blanket. But you need to work to pay your bills.  You pull the courage, you kick that comfy blanket you wake up, dress up and show up for work at 6:00 am in the morning. Kudos, you are truly a Winner.

How about the fellow next door? His alarm clock sounds at 6.00am, his immediate reaction is to reach out for his favorite button is (“what is it called?) Snooze button. He gets five more minutes and another five more minutes and five more minutes and before he realizes it is 7.00 AM. By the time he gets ready and hits the road, it is rush hour and the traffic is on its peak. He arrives to the office late and he complains and blames the road authorities that they are no proactive, they need to expand the roads etc. Your neighbor is a whiner

Finally, Winners are initiators, and whiners wait for things to happen. My then girlfriend and I met in a foreign country. We only had three months before she goes back to her country. After meeting a few times for coffee and dinner someone had to initiate the relationship. She did, she said,” I would like to put you in my heart. That was 20 years ago. She still has me in her heart till today. She initiated but I proposed and we both won. We are winners.

I always hear people complaining about the government, about the President, about the CEO of the organization and even about their boss and how they are not doing things right. They just complain but in their position what did they do? Nothing but Complaining. They are Whiners and don’t join them!

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. – Michael Jordan.