Being poor or rich doesn't make you a happy person or a good person, neither does flying Y or F etc those are often all internal values that you develop through life experiences and often the people and relationships you have around you..
But when you have become use to having a very successful life and high standard of everything i think roughing it or taking a couple of steps down the ladder or stepping outside your routine comfort zone can definitely help you appreciate what you often begin to take for granted and it can also help you gain a bit of perspective on your life and on what life looks like from other people's perspective... Certainly nothing wrong with trying it and you wouldn't have been the first to think about a change of scene to re-energise things or give you a new perspective...
I guess going on my earlier theme of one month a year roughing it a little, i have been doign that anyway i suppose as in recent years when i travel i stay at hostels or at people's house who offer to guest me via things like couchsurfing... I did 6 weeks in 2010, 2.5 months in 2011, 5.5 weeks in 2012 and will do at least a month this year and after a month of sleeping in dorms of 4-8 people, sharing toilets and bathrooms, catching buses and trains, eating mainly take out it can be a nice change to get back to your own bed, own shower, your own car to drive when and where you want, your own kitchen to cook the food you like, back to family and friends and even the normality of job without the hectic pace of touring... t for me anyway helps me to appreciate what i have, while giving me memories to keep forever (all the walking i do usually sheds a couple of kilos as well, so useful on so many levels
)...
It also makes me think about my son who is 7 years old, and you go to Egypt or Morocco or South America and there the poor kids on the street might have one toy, or just a can or something to play with and yet they are still happy and smiling, and here, like most kids he has a room full of toys and yet we go into a shop and he wants another one... i think it would do him good to see one day what others get by on, how they can appreciate even more the few things they have than the mounds of stuff we often have and just ignore... Growing up myself we didn't have a lot and it helped me to be satisfied with less, to know the value of a dollar and to not need constant instand gratification but to plan things and value things... So while seeing how others live and survive can be a simple thing to appreciate what you have, i think it can get the brain thinking about some bigger issues in life, about what is important... Its maybe how much you open yourself up to contemplate life???
I know i am also very happy to try and help people out and its makes me feel good to do things for others... I usually like to have helped other people out more than they have me and i like trying to inspire people to do things, if they look at my travel photos or plans and it makes them think how they can break out of their rut and go follow their dreams i am always ready to help them out, so i think when BR is generous here on AFF i'm sure that also gives him a measure of satisfaction and so both parties win from that, which is how ideally you really want it things...
Now trying to work in a restaurant may or may not give BR some of the answers he is looking for, but it might even help him redfine the questions he is asking? But the one sure thing is that if you keep doing what you are doing you'll keep getting pretty much the same results, so if your unhappy or feeling unfulfilled or questioning some things, there is usually no harm in stepping out and trying something new... Surrounding yourself with good people that will build you up and strengthen you is usually one of the best things you can do... I'm lucky i still have mum and dad, some close borthers and sisters and we do appreciate each other and try to catch up, dad is 78 now so i oftne think every year we have him is to be valued...
