Saturday, September 29, 2007

carl rogers

i've been thinking a bit on the allocation of my time spent with friends. truthfully, i surround myself with Christian friends 4 out of 7 days per week minimally. i've realized that one of my biggest mistakes in that area is that i will maybe extend an offer to go to church or to a mid-size group to my non-Christian friends but usually give up there and don't ever really go out of my way to dive into their lives.

“In my early professionals years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?

I have gradually come to one negative conclusion about the good life. It seems to me that the good life is not any fixed state. It is not, in my estimation, a state of virtue, or contentment, or nirvana, or happiness. It is not a condition in which the individual is adjusted or fulfilled or actualized. To use psychological terms, it is not a state of drive-reduction, or tension-reduction, or homeostasis.

The good life is a process, not a state of being.

It is a direction not a destination."
Carl Rogers

Rogers was an amazing Humanitarian and revolutionary psychologist. all of his theories were rooted behind the idea that we are products of our experiences.

it was enlightening to me to think about why and how individuals come to accept new ideas according to Rogers. when we give others an unconditional positive regard (a.k.a. loving on people without limits), they are able to recognize that they are valued for who they are and not their potential to be. through repeated unconditional positive regard, individuals are unconsciously motivated towards self-enhancement and a desire for personal growth and self-understanding. basically, Rogers emphasized during his life that the way to empower people to further their own lives is simply to love on them and provide with positive experiences throughout the relationship.

and the idea that the "good life" isn't something to be attained but is actually a way to live... awesomeamazing.

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Listening to: Half Past Forever - Need

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