Okay so hereâs my take on the most famous miracle of all time, weâve all wanted to do since we were teenagers on a tight weekly allowance – changing water into wine.
Let me first set the context here. The good book refers to this âwater to wineâ miracle happening at a marriage hall in the Middle East some 2000 years ago. Somebody seems to have miscalculated the drinking abilities of the new âin-lawsâ, and ordered wine that only got through to round 1 in what was turning out to be a long night.
âHello? I told you not to invite Mustapha. Iâve seen him drink at the local pub ⌠gawd! See what youâve done?â doesnât actually qualify as a good problem statement, but letâs go with that for now.
The first step in any transformation journey is to identify and articulate clearly a need for change or a problem you want to solve. In this case, a unique one, âIf I donât have some wine here in the next 30 minutes – Iâm deadâ
The next step is to evaluate all available options on the table and confirm that the only âPlan Bâ available, is not a viable option- this is to ensure that you are fully invested in the change process.
In this particular case, âPlan Bâ would have involved having the father of the bride, slip on his nike sneakers, walk into a dining hall packed with a tipsy bunch of guests getting ready to line dance to the âcha cha slideâ. Then having to bang spoon to plate to grab the attention of the crowd and go – âokay everybody, listen up, we have a small problem here- Weâve run out of wineâ.
See what I mean? Thatâs not a viable Plan B. Is it?
There would have been pin-drop silence and confused looks, and then the father of the bride would have had to outrun a group of half-drunk, new relatives through narrow cobbled streets, side-stepping donkey with high ambitions of serving the messiah, and having three generations on your family tree being cursed in ancient Aramaic. Not good!
Moving on.
Hereâs some advise for event planners, business owners and individuals ready for a transformation though – always expect the unexpected and plan for worst case scenarios in life – insurance, miracle men, bouncers, super heroes and a âdesignated driverâ who can get you out of a sticky situation and save the day.
If you on the other hand happen to be that problem-solving, transformational leader, thatâs been designated to do a little miracle and save the day- DONâT PANIC. Heres how you do it.
First, close your eyes and ask your sponsor, what flavour of wine he would want to turn this water into.
You can use the most trusted pickup line of a magician and go-
âPick a fruit. Any fruit.â.
âGRAPE.â
âGrape? Hmmm. How boring and predictableâ
Next, crush audience requested fruit into bowl containing a frothing yeast mix, add water and go âAbracadabra!â. Thatâs it!
Okay, if youâve read the Harry Potter series, you would have got an insight into the mechanics of crafting a good spell- spells you see serve just one purpose- divert attention and buy time, and hence theyâre usually long and confusing … just right to divert your attention long enough for the magic to happen. In this case, approximately 12-15 days for the water to magically turn to wine which I hear is how long ancient wedding parties in the Middle East usually lasted.
Every parable ends with a lesson right – Bringing about a magical transformation in your life uses the same building blocks of wine making. You must ENDURE being crushed by the hard times and come to a point where you WANT to change your present state, you must have mustard seed sized SELF BELIEF and you must have a lot of PATIENCE. Itâs that simple. Try it!
As for me, I need to go check if that wine Iâve been brewing has matured as yet. Itâs about time.
YES, I think it has.
âWingardium Leviosaâ.