There’s something I want to share with this community, and I hope it inspires someone who might be going through the same thing. I’ve always had a passion for crochet making. Honestly, the joy I get when I finish creating something with my hands is unexplainable. But the struggle comes whenever I try to monetize it. Each time I mention the price I feel my work deserves, based on the time and energy I invest, my close friends and family will start saying it’s too expensive, that nobody will pay that kind of money for crochet in this economy. They always advised me to abandon it and look for another hustle, since it takes a lot of my time. I won’t lie, their words always got to me. There was even a time I was so broken that I didn’t make a single crochet piece for three whole months. What pained me most is that, anytime I created something, instead of encouraging me, they would say, “If nobody buys, just give it to us.” And truly, no one ever bought. But instead of even supporting me with small money, they would just carry the finished work and claim they were “helping me advertise” by wearing it. Yet I never saw them post it anywhere or share it on their status. Recently though, I felt a strong drive to give it another try. Of course, the negativity didn’t stop. They still reminded me that in this current economy, people would rather buy food than pay for crochet. Their words almost discouraged me again, but this time I chose to ignore them. The difference now is that unlike before when I was single, I have a man in my life who stands by me. Each time I felt weighed down, I would call him to rant, and he always told me to keep pushing. One morning, about two months ago, he sent me a message that really touched me. It said: “You are born to be great, self-talk matters. Eternal talk with eternal significance is very important. Never say to yourself, ‘I am confused, I am a loser,’ no. But say to yourself what God says about you. You are not born to fail. You are not born to lose. You are not born to be insignificant. You are born to win.” He told me to stand in front of a mirror and read this to myself every morning. At first, I thought he composed it, but after pressing him, he confessed it was actually from Burna Boy’s song Born Winner. Immediately, I went to listen to the song, and since then, it has become my daily routine. Every morning, I play it just to hear those affirmations, then I look into a mirror and tell myself, “I am born to win, I am a born winner.” I kept this habit, while still pushing my crochet business, and today, I’m proud to say I sold my very first crochet piece and the client paid in full. I’m sharing this because I know there are people here who may be fighting silent battles like mine. Please, shut out negativity. Always speak life into yourself. Remove words like can’t and impossible from your dictionary. Replace them with can and possible. Nothing good comes easy, but with optimism and consistency, you will see results. Thank you.