The time arrived for me to lead a workshop on “Building a High Performance Organization,” the second element of my agreed upon participation in the American Society for Training & Development – Middle East North Africa Conference. I was well prepared, quite anxious to start and confident my audience would be engaged. However, a few minor preparations were required before I could begin. The AV team had to attach the lapel microphone. I had to switch from the previous presenter’s computer to my own and test the visuals.

Several years ago during a friendly game of billiards my friend Craig exclaimed, “You can’t make everything in life black or white; it just doesn’t work that way!”

For years I had tried to make life fit into the “black or white” box. I thought doing so would help me sort life out more easily and better deal with matters. But all it did was create frustration. As years passed I grew to understand that, with the exception of morality, nothing else about life was black or white. Many a time, issues, events, decisions, judgements and directions were placed before me, but the answers to so many questions were not that simple.

I was startled by the noise. "What was that? It's the alarm clock. It's time to get up. It's 5:30 am." Hearing those words from my wife, Linda, made me groan. With darkness covering the house, I slowly and reluctantly began my journey. The warmth of the bed's comforter was replaced by the morning's cold air. The ritual of cleansing and dressing occurred without any thought. I kept my eyes closed for most of it. I watched the news while chewing cold cereal. Not even a hot coffee, though welcomed, was able to provide the stimulus to ignite the senses.