Dr. Paul Farmer has written that he enjoyed his childhood, and did not think of himself as deprived, or of his family as particularly poor. Nonetheless, his family would be regarded by most Americans as having lived in poverty. They moved frequently, were without a stable income, and spent part of Farmer’s childhood living on a bus with no access to electricity or running water. They bathed and washed their clothes in nearby lakes and rivers, and had very few material possessions.

As an adult, Farmer has had a distinguished career in both medicine and academia. However, he has remained indifferent to material comfort and to status symbols. This indifference has allowed him to pursue his vocation for bringing high-quality healthcare to some of the poorest people in the world.

You will be the best judge of how your own background has influenced your life and decisions, but you might begin by examining your values and standards, and how you have acquired them. Is material comfort important to you, and to what degree? Think about what you want to accomplish in life, and what sacrifices you would make to attain this goal. Would you live in a poor country, without access to the internet, electricity, running water, or other people? This is not only a matter of material comfort, however. Think about all the things your background has led you to expect out of life. For instance, if you have grown up in a large and gregarious family, you might find it too difficult to live alone in an isolated area. You should consider what sacrifices would be too hard to make, and how this might influence your life decisions.