Still in my 20s, I had the opportunity to spend time with Carl Rogers. I was working at a small, experimental college at Lake Tahoe in the 1970s. Rogers and his wife visited on several weekends and shared his vision about life.
Back in the 1940s, Rogers had developed person-centered therapy, an approach that influenced the way therapists worked with clients for decades that followed. At our small college, he helped students and faculty members recognize that every human being strives for and has the capacity to fulfill his or her own potential.
This kind, brilliant man helped change the way I looked at my own life. Rather than searching for someone to tell me what I should or should not do, Rogers encouraged me to look within myself for the right answers.
Fifty years later, I sit on my back porch paging through books written by experts who are telling me how to sketch out my remaining years. A lot of fine research has gone into their recommendations.
As I doze off, I see Carl Rogers putting his hand on my shoulder and saying softly, “Don, look inside. Listen to the one who knows you best.”
By golly, I think that’s me.