we all have a story

i have a story, you have a story; we all have a story.
we all also have a vision; a dream; a possible reality to live.
some of us are living our dreams, others choose to live in their past stories.
but we all have them; no matter who we are, what we look like, and what circumstances we come from.

today i have been in Barcelona for one month.
i have met many, many new people, all with a story.
some stories are obvious, as they affecting the current situation of a person's life, and others hide their story, while some are evidently free from their stories by having made an active choice to be so.
i met several people here who i found really, really inspiring.
coming from a past that may be filled with pain and trauma, these people have decided to not keep identifying themselves with their suffering, and instead, they moved on, and created their own, chosen reality.

many of us come from suffering. many of us think this is the only way to be, the correct state of being. we identify ouselves with our conditioned suffering and it becomes who we are.
but it doesn't have to be that way.
fear can be overcome, suffering can be left behind. it is hard work and it takes a lot of willpower; but where there's a will, there's always a way.
success is not something that "just happens" to people.
success comes with a lot of courage, hard work, dedication, and discipline.

i met some inspiring people here, who came from difficult situations. who left their home countries and their families, to start over, and leave the pain behind. hard work, dedication to their dreams, and a lot of courage took them to a place of success, in themselves. success in disidentifying from their past conditionings, disidentification from suffering, and an active choice to live their dream.

in fact, since i came to Barcelona one month ago, i heard people using the phrase "to live my dreams" more often than i ever did altogether in my whole life. and i see it happening; i watch people making their dreams come true. i see people making an active choice for change, right here, in this city.
not stopping, not giving up. not giving in to laziness or being too comfortable. keep on moving, keep on working.

yesterday i sat on placa del sol in Grácia with three new friends. some of them might be friends for life.
we all told our story.
sharing our stories and telling of our past, we all realised that everyone has a story. no matter what that person looks like today, behaves like, or appears to be; we all come from a story.
it is up to us to create our own.
each moment is a new opportunity.
thank you Barcelona!