The Whirlpool Effect and Easing Stress

Well Tuesday, it seems I have been able to conquer you for another day I guess.

Last night I played Just Dance with the hall. It is seriously really fun, and I suggest playing it. The funny thing is, even if you dance badly with this game, you can blame your lack of skills on the game.

Today was just... not pleasant. It was one of those day where something I would like to call the Whirlpool Effect happened.

I received one comment today that let's just say was displeasing to me. This question sparked worry and pessimism. Ideas began to sprout out like, "Well, if A is like this, than this must mean I'm bad at B, C, D, etc." Then all of those ideas sprout all of these issues that you have with those other problems, so all of these negative thoughts start swirling around. All of the problems are based around that main problem though, and they all swirl like a whirlpool. Here's a chart of it all:

Truthfully, I've been really down and stressed. The thing is, I don't remember myself being this blue as much as I have been lately. I think it might be really because I am stressed. I think there's a lot of things triggering it too such as:

• I am taking 18 credits this term, and that includes Spanish.
• I still have no idea what I'm doing for school next year, and I'm starting to think I really don't want to be stuck at this school.
• Something else that triggered the Whirlpool Effect that didn't even depress me until I was reminded of it. However, I'd rather not mention what.
• I want close friends, and I'm not getting the super-close-best-friends-forever vibe from anyone. Sure, that takes time for most people such as myself. Or maybe I'm just not good at it. My family likes to remind me of this, because pretty much at least one family member hates any one of my friends.

These feelings of feeling blue just make me feel worse because I think, "Did I used to be this gloomy all of the time?" I don't think I was. Something needs to change, or I need to get something to de-stress me.

Even running has been causing me some tension, but you know what? Once I ran today, I felt a lot better. There were things that made me feel stressed still, but I wasn't as angry about them as before I ran.
I hate to be so pissy, and I apologize. Let's look forward to a better tomorrow!

So, what things help you deal with stress?