This morning King Solomon took me to a farm. What I learnt was so refreshing, I thought I should take you along because you might enjoy it too. No, we’re not going to a flower farm. There are no tractors and combine harvesters here. It is old school oxen, manure, yokes, hoes and cutlasses.

Proverbs 14:4 says “without oxen a stable stays clean but you need a strong ox for a large harvest”.

I like a clean stable. I like to have my space, my time, my thing. One of the main reasons why I quit my job in advertising to pursue photography as a career was because in advertising a lot depends on other people. Somebody must have a problem, somebody must bring a brief, somebody must distill it into a creative link, somebody must plan your time, somebody must organize research, somebody must approve final artwork, somebody must provide the budget, somebody must produce the commercial well and on time, somebody must remember to place the ad in the right medium and at the right time… I can go and on but after depending on too many people (most of them unreliable in Ghana) to turn great ideas into reality, I got fed up and all I wanted was to be boss of my creativity. I wanted a clean, manure-free, hay free, stench-free stable. I became a photographer.

Within a few weeks as a photographer, I learnt if I really want to grow. I need to employ other people; even if on part-time basis. Allowing other people into your life either in a professional environment or at the private level is not easy for anyone. Other people come with their manure, their need for fresh hay everyday, their stench. This is as true about the house help as it is about your knight in shining armour or the queen of your dreams.

The secret is what you focus on. Don’t focus on the stable because you’ll see how messed up it has become since that ox came into your life. Focus on the harvest their helping you create. Too many people divorce over nothing. Of course, if you focus on trivial issues they become giant issues in your mind.

So do you want a large harvest or not? If yes, you know what to do.