A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days in Barcelona with my family. I loved the city at first sight. It inspired me with its charm and character and its location by the sea only added to my experience. The sea makes all the difference to me. I get so much energy and drive from the sea – it simply takes my breath away!

I wanted to find out what the people of Barcelona would do, or how different their life would be if they had more courage. Obviously the outcome of my interviews is not representative of the whole of Barcelona, but it did give me the “feel” that I was looking for.

I was very pleasantly surprised to find myself confronted with so much positive energy and drive. I must admit that I was a bit sceptical, as I had heard so much about the economic crisis in Spain.

Most of the people I spoke to were happy with their life. Nevertheless some admitted that, with a little more courage, they would have the desire and drive to achieve their wishes and dreams. Some of them would do a job that they love e.g. they would be a consultant in their field or profession, they would be an actor or a photographer or they would turn the sport they love into their profession, whilst others would set up their own business.

Some people I spoke to wished that they had more courage to travel around the world, or to emigrate to another country such as Australia or South America. Some wanted to undertake risky sports, whilst others just wanted to put more effort into achieving what they would like to achieve. The young students working in our hotel, fresh faced talent, most of whom were studying in recognised hotel management schools in Switzerland, seemed not to have any issues relating to courage quite just yet.

The reason why these people hesitated to be more courageous was mostly money driven or that they did not want to leave friends and family and their comfort zone. Some seem not to have the courage to undertake further education or development. I did not want to probe much deeper with regard to that particular topic.

Of course there is always the other side of the coin. Unfortunately I did not make it to the unemployment office, like RAV in Switzerland, as I had planned. I just did not have enough time available, but I did speak to some unhappy taxi drivers and service people in restaurants. Most of them were doing the job because it is what they have always done and they were unable to see a way out. They had started their profession when very young and they did not know anything else. They felt trapped and had never been given the opportunity to try anything else.

I heard from some very unhappy taxi drivers, who sit, day after day, in a paralyzed state, driving people around because they never had the chance to think of anything else that they might like to do with their life. Many of whom find themselves under financial pressure, are not educated and have never had the right support and encouragement to make something better of their life. On hearing their stories, I felt that it would not be right of me to introduce the topic of courage.

These people might well have courage issues and for a number of reasons, they might lack the mind-set, the drive, the education or what ever else it takes to stand up, to seize the energy and go with the flow to turn the tables in their favour. Firstly they need to ensure that their basic existence needs are met, secondly, Barcelona might well be strong economic metropol, but unfortunately not everyone who lives there is in a position to benefit. This is ok, a pretty similar situation exists in most cities every where else in the world, nevertheless this provided me with a sad side to my Barcelona courage interviews…

…Let us take the courage to move forward and shake up our lives, to head in which ever direction we want to go, or to just take one step after the other. After all most of us find ourselves in the luxurious position of having the freedom to do just that!