I was a defender for most of my soccer career, but sometimes in tournaments with friends, I played as a striker. It taught me something counterintuitive about handling life's hard moments. When I played futbol, it didn't matter how a cross came into the box. High, low, behind me, whatever. My job was to find a way to put it in the net.

Here's what's interesting though. The ugliest crosses often led to the most beautiful goals. A ball that came in awkwardly forced me to get creative. I remember a time I attempted a bicycle kick because the cross was deflected, one of the most beautiful goals I scored. Or a time I had to chest it down when others were around me and hit a first-time volley emphatically. The "perfect" crosses? Sometimes those were the ones I'd overthink and mess up.

This hit me hard in 2021 when I lost my business, and with it, my work/investor visa. Instead of a clean, straightforward path, which I thought I had already figured out, life had sent me an ugly cross. No job, no clear status, everything up in the air.

Then I remembered those awkward crosses. The ones that seemed impossible until you fully committed to them. So I got creative and courageous. I started working in a friend's delivery company while repaying outstanding business debt. I built new skills I never would have pursued if my restaurant had remained open. The "bad" cross forced me to adapt.

That's when I realized maybe life's messiest challenges aren't obstacles to your goals but unexpected assists. The job loss that pushes you to finally start that business. The injury that teaches you to move smarter, not harder. The relationship ending that shows you who you really are.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "everything happens for a reason" or "just be positive." Some crosses really do suck. A lot. But like a striker in the box, you can choose to see each challenge as an invitation to try something new. To move in ways you never would have considered.

The cross might be ugly. But what you make of it? That's up to you.