Offsets...Always

The positive has helped offset the negative that came with making the mistake. Unfortunately, you can't have one without the other.
~ Jim Joyce, Major League Baseball Umpire~

The "mistake" Joyce refers to was a blown call at first base that should have been the final out. The game itself -- between the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers -- involved two also-ran teams; neither challenged for a division title. In most such games, a blown call of this nature wouldn't have that big of a deal to most baseball fans around the world. This one was. There is no debate.

The reason that this became a major sports story this past summer is that Jim Joyce's mistake cost Tigers' pitcher Armando Galarraga his place in immortal baseball history. Had Joyce correctly called the runner out, Galarraga would have become only 21st pitcher in the annals of the major leagues to pitch a perfect game.

I'm not sharing this story to talk about baseball, though. (That said, if you'd like to read a great article that transcends baseball, go here.) It's more to remind each of us that whatever choices we make in life -- be they positive or negative -- there ALWAYS is a flip side.

Most of us tend to focus on the predominating factor. If something happens that we deem to be wonderful or fantastic, we too often don't see the negatives that are included in the package. Just as often, when something we perceive as bad or horrible transpires, we neglect to see the good or beneficial that comes along with it.

This is another way of stating that without yin, there can be no yang or without yang, there is no yin.

Joyce offers one more gem for you to chew on:

Sometimes the word 'perfect' means be able to accept imperfection.