top twenty suggestions for improving performance at school/work for those with anxiety (and particularly for bipolars and/or people with depression):


1. get medication from a qualified physician or psychiatrist.

2. exercise to change your brain chemistry to the positive.

3.be kind to yourself and don't blame yourself for your illness.

4. get into a support group. get a social worker, and/or a psychologist, and/or a psychoanalytically minded and trained psychiatrist. the support group will greatly reduce your health care costs and you won't need to see any one of the three (professional help) people attending to your issues quite as often.

5. practice meditation and/or prayer. meditation, 20 minutes a day, gives one purpose and clarity of mind. just close your eyes, shut down thinking and find peace and quiet. you'll feel calmer, be a much more peaceful and thought-ordered person as a result. repeat this process at least once a week - at the same time. some people do it more than once a day, in slightly less or slightly more periods of time. many others feel that prayer helps lift their worries and lighten their minds.

6. eat well - diet high in veggies and protein.

7. take away the mood-altering drugs of caffeine and alcohol (all of it).

8. take care of ALL your problems - if you're a chronic gambler - get into support groups for that. if you suffer chronic pain - seek help for that too. if you're a vet of a war, you probably would benefit from the companionship and guidance of people who know what you're going through. keep going until you've covered all the bases.

9. write about your illness frequently. keep pen and paper next to the bed - write down your nightmares, your wishes, your dreams, your anxieties and what you're doing to change.

10. make good, sensible friendships a priority.

11. get away from toxic people - if your family abuses you, take a break from them. if someone at work is mean, avoid them. seek out those who intend to help, not hurt you.

12. study/work more smart and less frequently and give yourself appropriate awards and punishments for progress.

13. see if your school has a "test bank" of old tests of professors. study how they test and quiz people.

14. your school probably has counseling - get familiar with everyone in the office.

15. visit with your professors/teachers on a regular basis, making appointments to discuss the smallest worries or details - they will gain sensitivity to your issues.

16. get with a study group or start one. make it a weekly or bi-weekly meeting with few distractions. write down what you want to discuss and support others.

17. do volunteer work that takes you out of your own mind and into the lives of others. caring about others is very therapeutic and reduces your worries.

18. prepare, organize and plan as much as possible - keep a calendar and schedule book on computer or elsewhere. know where you are going and what you're going to do the next hour, day, week, month, semester.

19. your mental health comes first: you can't be good to other people if you're giving too much of yourself away.

20. keep this list in your purse, pocketbook or wallet - and refer to it when you feel especially under the stress of school or work

Swimming With the Sharks October 22, 2005

In Tulsa, there are several concerns about animals - perhaps the most significant in recent months has been this headline "Pregnant Shark At Oklahoma Aquarium In Jenks Dies" - the aquarium had not been open long. I complained vociferously that the migratory sharks were kept in inhumane conditions months before the incident and was given a cold-shoulder response.

From the Associated Press, "Aquarium officials say the shark hit its head and died after jumping out of its cage. Aquarium spokeswoman, ... says the shark was thought to be sterile, but an autopsy found it was pregnant. The aquarium opened in May 2003 and features Oklahoma's native fish plus 200 exhibits and a tank featuring both fresh and saltwater fish."

Sharks which normally travel thousands of miles a year in the open sea should not be kept in such limiting circumstances. While the tank may appear huge to human beings, it is miniscule in relationship to the beautiful open waters of the Pacific Ocean. How would you feel if you were kept in a ten foot by ten foot room to walk around in and slid food that wasn't particularly of your choosing -- for the rest of your life?

Let's say you're an athletic person, who needs an occasional run, long walk or hike - is that the condition you would prefer? These animals are hunters, they are the athletes of the ocean. They love to swim, be free and roam the open ocean. While we can't feel the same warm-fuzzies for an animal we might otherwise feel dangerous. That is in a category of beings that has been associated with occasional attacks, we must give them freedom to live as they live naturally.

It is cruel to capture sharks or keep them in circumstances that are inhumane. One cannot domesticate such a wild animal in the same way a house-pet is kept. I hope you will join me in writing letters of advocacy to the Aquarium and Tulsa officials. Give them a phone call or send them an email - let them know that it is not okay to continue to harbor animals of the wild in inhumane conditions.

One of the other appauling matters about this new museum of horrors is the fact they have parties in the museum which cannot serve to make the animals feel any better. The racket from visitors, including sometimes live music could be disturbing to them. I hope all will say no to these attrocities.

The End of Cockfighting and Trying to Stop Fur Retailers

Recently NOAH, an animal rights org, was able to get the rule off the books that still permitted the second to last state in the union (Oklahoma) to have cock-fighting. This is a cruel ritual of some rural and urban communities, who gamble, exploit the animals and allow them to injure one another - often fatally. We can count this as a major victory for our animal cousins - we are all alike as living beings - animals do experience pain and distress when treated inhumanely and we must all keep that in mind.

There are still fur retail businesses in Tulsa that need to listen to the cries of many defenseless animals -- fox left in traps to bleed to death in the bone-chilling cold, other animals who are cruelly bludgened to death with a club or caught in nets and cannot escape. Please also consider taking action to stop this behavior - contact a fur retailer with a phone call to the manager and tell them you will not shop there if they continue to profit from the demise of defenseless creatures.

The new news is that the TOHR (Tulsa Oklahomans for Human Rights) has a new center. It will be the second largest of the kind in the midwest - second only to Chicago! Currently the Center has some of the best computers for public use in Tulsa. I highly recommend it.

They also have a remarkable library on site, (The Nancy McDonald Library) of over 3,000 volumes as well as a dvd/video collection of all sorts of movies you can check out! It is one of the least known of semi-public orgs in Tulsa. They are in the Highland Shopping Center on 41st street, between Sheridan and Yale - but will move into their new digs in April, near Downtown Tulsa - and near 3rd and Kenosha, close to the Living Arts Center and a gallery or two. Online, TOHR may be found at Http://tohr.org (i think!).

The center also currently includes games, a billiards table, meeting rooms and more. This is a great place to get to know and make friends in the gay community and concerned about human rights. You'll also simply find straight people, like me, there who have many friends in the GLBT community and want to make a difference!

There are numerous activities at the center, from gay youth, to transgendered support groups, and advocacy meetings to organize events and efforts. The pride parade is a major project of the center, a fun event for the family, and takes place in early June.

Tell them Franc sent you!

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I found an entertainment, travel, chat site called gay.com - it's pretty good reading I guess - maybe a lot like The Advocate magazine, if you're familiar with that. my favorite reading in the gay genre is the "Gay and Lesbian Review" - it's literary, intellectual and informative.

Alfred Corn, who lived in the Tulsa area for some time and taught literature and nearby colleges, is an adept poet who wrote a fascinating study about the gay scene and social structure of Tulsa. If you can find it online, I highly recommend it. It will give you a great deal of insight about Tulsa.

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Most of you know me as one of the only straight activists for gay people in Tulsa. I must spend more time thinking about it (activism) than most gay people. pflag.org/

Why isn't there a gay college? Wouldn't this be an excellent idea - not considering all the money to be made by providing an excellent education that fosters a gay community? A place where people coming out - gay and lesbian, bisexual and transgendered can feel at home, get the support and love they need and have a community that not only studies gay culture and history, but rejoices in it.

Tulsa has a thriving gay community - many think that the religious community condemns and, would ultimately, destroy the gay lifestyle. But, in fact, I've met many gay people who are far more serious and dedicated to their faith than anywhere else. It's a learning experience to be certain.
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For those of you interested in athletics, and the world series in particular, I can recommend Billy Bean's autobiography - "Going the Other Way" which you may be able to find in your local library. You can find a little more info about the book and Billy Bean who played pro ball with the Los Angeles Dodgers. I found the bio very honest, very real and a shocking tale about the life of a gay man involved in American professional athletics.

www.billybean.com/index.asp

espn.go.com/otl/world/timeline.html