OPRAH SAYS..

"I like having great books for people to read, so I have a book called WHEN GOD WINKS. I love that... cute little stories about how there are no coincidences in our life."

- Oprah, during an on-air tour of her home

Wishing in the Color Purple

Oprah had never wanted anything more in her life.

If there was ever to be a movie based on Alice Walker’s 1982 book The Color Purple, the role of Sofia belonged to her. Ever since she had first read the book, and since the first dozen times she had re-read the book, Oprah felt like she was integral to it. And when she heard that Steven Spielberg was going to make the movie, she knew she had to be in it.

Acting, however, was not high on her considerable list of skills. She had previously acted only in high school and college plays. As the host of a Chicago television show that had not yet gone national, how in the world could she become visible to Steven Spielberg and get an audition?

God winked.

Unbeknownst to Oprah, Quincy Jones, the famed producer and musician, had acquired the rights to The Color Purple. He was the one who had convinced Spielberg to become involved in the film. On a trip through Chicago, Quincy had caught Oprah’s show on television and had come to the same conclusion: she was the perfect Sofia. He called the casting people and asked them to contact Oprah for an audition.

Oprah was flabbergasted. But not too flabbergasted to jump at the opportunity. She auditioned, and then—silence. The next two months were incredibly painful. No one called to tell her whether she had done well or badly. The casting agent had simply said, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

She could not conceive of a single thing to do to move herself closer to her goal. Maybe it was her looks, she thought. Maybe she was overweight. Oprah took action. She enrolled in a workout retreat in hopes that she could quickly take off thirty pounds. She exhausted herself on the track, running and running, wondering what else could she do.

On the track, she decided to let go. She had done all she could when an old spiritual came to mind, “I Surrender All.” She began singing it out loud, right there on the track: “I surrender all, I surrender all.”

God winked again.

A staff member at the retreat came out to the running track to tell her that there was a telephone call from Hollywood—Steven Spielberg’s office.

“Spielberg wanted to see me in Los Angeles the next day,” said Oprah, “and I was told, ‘If you lose a pound, you could lose the part.’” The part was Sofia, an indomitable woman who was determined to marry a man named Harpo.

“Harpo¾that’s Oprah spelled backwards,” said Oprah. “And to me that was more than a coincidence. It was a sign the part was for me.” Not only did Oprah get the role of Sofia, but the release of the movie was perfectly timed: it immediately preceded the national rollout of the Oprah Winfrey Show, which went on to become the most successful syndicated talk show in the history of television.

And to close the loop of perfect synchronicity, when Oprah formed a production company to oversee her show and other projects, she gave it an apt name: Harpo Productions.

When you wish for something, you also need to take action yourself¾to place yourself in the direction that you wish to go, the direction that you believe to be in alignment with your destiny. Get on the path. Do everything you can do to be prepared for your maker’s reply to your wishes and prayers. Then, like Oprah, let go and wait for the God Wink.