Smoke Signals
'.'Jafy'1991
page 8
HEALTH AND EDUCATION NEWS
TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
ABOUT ANGER
By Dr. David Burns
1. The events of this world don't make you angry. Your
"hot thoughts" create your anger. Even when a genu
inely negative event occurs, it is the meaning you attach
to it that determines your emotional response.
The idea that you are responsible for your anger is
ultimately to your advantage because it gives you the
opportunity to achieve control and make a free choice
about how you want to feel. If it weren't for this, you
would be irreversibly bound up with every external event
of this world, most of which are ultimately out of your
control.
2. Most of the time your anger will not help you. It will
immobilize you, and you will become frozen in your
hostility to no productive purpose. You will feel better if
you place your emphasis on the active search for
creative solutions. What can you do to correct the
difficulty or at least reduce the chance that you'll get
burned in the same way in the future? This attitude will
eliminate to a certain extent the helplessness and
frustrations that eat you up when you feel you can't deal
with a situation effectively.
If no solution is possible because the provocation is
totally beyond your control, you will only make yourself
miserable with your resentment, so why not get rid of it?
It's difficult if not impossible to feel anger and joy
simultaneously. If you think your anger feelings are
especially precious and important, then think about one
of the happiest moments of your life. Now ask yourself,
how many minutes of that period of peace or jubilation
would I be willing to trade in for feeling frustration and
irritation instead?
3. The thoughts that generate anger more often than
not will contain distortions. Correcting these distortions
will reduce your anger.
4. Ultimately your anger is caused by your belief that
someone is acting unfairly or some event is unjust. The
intensity of the anger will increase in proportion to the
severity of the maliciousness perceived and if the act is
seen as intentional.
5. If you learn to see the world through other people's
eyes, you will often be surprised to realize their actions
are not unfair from their point of view. The unfairness
in these cases turns out to be an illusion that exists only
in your mind! If you are willing to let go of the
unrealistic notion that your concepts of truth, justice,
and fairness are shared by everyone, much of your
resentment and frustration will vanish.
6. Other people usually do not feel they deserve your
punishment. Therefore, your retaliation is unlikely to
help you achieve any positive goals in your interactions
with them. Your rage will often just cause further
deterioration and polarization, and will function as a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Even if you temporarily get
what you want, any short-term gains from such hostile
manipulation will often be more than counterbalanced
by a long-term resentment and retaliation from the
people you are coercing. No one likes to be controlled
or forced. This is why a positive reward system works
better.
7. A great deal of your anger involves your defense
against loss of self-esteem when people criticize you,
disagree with you, or fail to behave as you want them to.
Such anger is always inappropriate because only your
own negative distorted thoughts can cause you to lose
self-esteem. When you blame the other guy for your
feelings of worthlessness, you are always fooling your
self. 8. Frustration results from unmet expectations. Since
the event that disappointed you was a part of "reality", it
was "realistic". Thus, your frustration always results
from your unrealistic expectation. You have the right
to try to influence reality to bring it more in line with
your expectations, but this is not always practical,
especially when these expectations represent ideals that
don't correspond to everyone else's concept of humans
nature. The simplest solution would be to change your
expectations. For example, some unrealistic expecta
tions that lead to frustration include:
a. If you want something (love, happiness, a
promotion, etc.) I deserve it.
b. If I work hard at something I should be sue
ccssful.
c. Other people should try to measure up to my
standards and believe in my concept of "fair
ness".
d. I should be able to solve any problems
quickly and easily.
e. If I'm a good wife, my husband is bound to
love me.
f. People should think and act the way I do.
g. If I'm nice to someone they should recipro
cate.
9. It is just childish pouting to insist you have
the right to be angry. Of course you do! Anger
is legally permitted in the United States. The
crucial issue is, is it to your advantage to feel
angry? Will you or the world really benefit
from your rage?
10. You rarely need your anger in order to be
human. It is not true that you will be an unfeel
ing robot without it. In fact, when you rid
yourself of that sour irritability you will feel
greater zest, joy, peace and productivity. You
will experience liberation and enlightenment.
Courtesy of ELWHA Newsletter
EDUCATION CUTS
PAINFUL TO
STUDENTS
This was the title of an article in the Statesman Journal
Newspaper (Salem), June 15th, 1991. The article carried
a message of upcoming activities that will have grave effects
on our college students. "In February the State Board of
Higher Education presented solutions to the legislature
which cut 700 jobs, reduced enrollment by more than 6,000
students, closed 65 academic programs and reduced 25
other programs. In addition, the Board of Higher Educa
tion recommended that students pay a surcharge of $ 600
a year on top of regular tuition increases of 6.7 for
universities and 5 for colleges."
At this point in time it appears the Ways & Means Educa
tion Sub Committee approved a bill that would add $ 53
million to higher education. Hopefully, this additional
money would maygo toward reducing certain costs, such as
the "surcharge from $ 600 to $ 500 ." The Statesman also
reported that instead of cutting student enrollment by 6,000
students, only 2,000 students would be cut.
All of this brings up the ugly question of whether or not the
Tribe will set a maximum ceiling on the Higher Education
Grants awarded by the Education Program. During the
summer months, the Tribal Education Committee and
Education staff will be meeting to discuss what the pro
posed higher educational changes mean. The Education
Committee and staff will review the current process for
awarding students, (picking up the UNMET NEED por
tion of educational budgets); look at numbers of continuing
& new students, and reviewing projected funding base for
the 1991-1992 school year.
Regardless of what direction the State Board takes, all
Tribal Higher Education participants will be affected. You
will have to pay a tuition increase per term of approximately
$ 167 to $ 200 dependent on how the additional $ 53 million
is utilized by the State.
In the June '91 issue of the SMOKE SIGNALS, several
areas of concern and possible changes were listed. It is
likely we may possibly have to move adopt several changes.
These options include; a maximum ceiling on per term
assistance, non-replacement of the Perkins or Stafford
student loans, and non-replacement of College Work
Study, if we are going to assist all higher education and
adult vocational training students. At this point in time,
whatever the outcome, all students need to realize, some
adjustment will be realized. The Tribal Education Pro
gram will make every effort to make any changes less
painful than what might be expected.
Student wishing more information can contact the Educa
tion Program by calling 1-800-422-0232 (in State) or (503)
879-5211 (out of State).