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.