Haw looked down the dark passageway and was aware of his fear. What lay ahead? Was it empty? Or worse, were there dangers lurking? He began to imagine all kinds of frightening things that could happen to him. He was scaring himself to death.
Then he laughed at himself. He realized his fears were making things worse. So he did what he would do if he wasn’t afraid. He moved in a new direction.
As he started running down the dark corridor he began to smile. Haw didn’t realize it yet, but he was discovering what nourished his soul. He was letting go and trusting what lay ahead for him, even though he did not know exactly what it was.
To his surprise, Haw started to enjoy himself more and more. “Why do I feel so good?” he wondered. “I don’t have any Cheese and I don’t know where I am going.
Before long, he knew why he felt good.
He stopped to write again on the wall:
When You Move Beyond Your Fear, You Feel Free.
Haw realized he had been held captive by his own fear. Moving in a new direction had freed him.
Now he felt the cool breeze that was blowing in this part of the maze and it was refreshing. He took in some deep breaths and felt invigorated by the movement. Once he had gotten past his fear, it turned out to be more enjoyable than he once believed it could be.
Haw hadn’t felt this way for a long time. He had almost forgotten how much fun it was.
To make things even better, Haw started to paint a picture in his mind. He saw himself in great realistic detail, sitting in the middle of a pile of all his favorite cheeses-from Cheddar to Brie! He saw himself eating the many cheeses he liked, and he enjoyed what he saw. Then he imagined how much he would enjoy all their great tastes.
The more clearly he saw the image of New Cheese, the more real it became, and the more he could sense that he was going to find it. He wrote:
Imagining Myself Enjoying New Cheese Even Before I Find It, Leads Me To It.
“Why didn’t I do this before?” Haw asked himself.
Then he raced through the maze with greater strength and agility. Before long he spotted a Cheese Station and became excited as he noticed little pieces of New Cheese near the entrance.
They were types of Cheeses he had never seen before, but they looked great. He tried them and found that they were delicious. He ate most of the New Cheese bits that were available and put a few in his pocket to have later and perhaps share with Hem. He began to regain his strength.
He entered the Cheese Station with great excitement. But, to his dismay, he found it was empty. Someone had already been there and had left only the few bits of New Cheese.
He realized that if he had moved sooner, he would very likely have found a good deal of New Cheese here.