How to understand if you are in the Labyrinth, and who holds the map?

In the previous chapter, we looked at life as a huge, tangled Labyrinth. We talked about the fact that in this Labyrinth there are invisible "players" – the "Dark Forces," who, seeing the entire map from above, can imperceptibly, through thoughts that arise in our head, guide us into dead ends, towards disappointments and losses. Realizing this can cause anxiety and even fear. But knowledge is not a reason for despair. It is strength. And the first step to breaking out of any labyrinth is to honestly determine your current location. It's impossible to plot a new route without understanding exactly where you are now.

This is precisely what our first practical step is dedicated to – self-diagnosis. At this stage, you will have to look at yourself and your life as if from the outside, to see the very signs that unmistakably indicate that you have fallen under the influence of the "Dark Forces".

The very first and most important sign that the "Dark Forces" have not just "latched onto" you, but have already established a stable connection with your Subconscious and set up their "comfortable little house" in it, is your inner state.

If you find that you often and for long periods "ruminate on" negative thoughts in your head; if you catch yourself returning again and again to old grievances, fears, and disappointments; if you frankly dislike your life, and you have a persistent feeling that you are in a "black streak," in a vicious cycle of bad luck and failure – this is the main symptom. This means that the "Dark Forces" are already actively participating in shaping your thoughts and ideas, leading you through the Labyrinth of life on a route that is advantageous to them – from one negative event to another, while diligently steering you away from joyful and bright moments.

Portrait of a Person Under the Influence of the "Dark Forces"

This internal state inevitably manifests itself externally. You can easily notice such signs not only in yourself but also in your acquaintances who often complain about being constantly unlucky. After talking with such a person, you will not only see how unfavorably their life is currently unfolding, but you will also be able to predict with high accuracy what awaits them "tomorrow": another disappointment, failure, or conflict. Sometimes people say about such individuals: "grumbles like an old woman" or "has turned into a walking negativity".

You can recognize such a person, who is under the influence of the "Dark Forces," by a number of signs:

• Appearance: Almost always furrowed brows, pursed lips, a deep crease between the eyebrows ("the wrinkle of discontent"). A smile is a rare guest on their face, and if it does appear, it often looks forced, crooked, or sarcastic. Their gaze is either "glassy," immersed in their own gloomy thoughts, or, on the contrary, darting, looking for reasons for criticism and dissatisfaction.
• Speech and Vocabulary: Their favorite phrases are "Everything is bad," "As always, nothing good," "Of course, I knew it!," "Those... again." They often use toxic generalizations: "Everyone around is an idiot," "You people always...," "Nothing works," "No one can be trusted," "Everything is always wrong for me, not like for other people." In their perception, the world is painted in black and white tones, where there is significantly more black.

• Devaluation of the Positive: They masterfully devalue any positive events. If they are given a gift, they will say: "Why did you spend the money? I already have one of these." If the weather is beautiful and sunny, they will complain about the heat or that "it's going to rain soon anyway." For them, there is always a fly in the ointment, which they will certainly notice.
• Rejection of Compliments: To the compliment "You look great!" they will reply: "I just washed my hair, otherwise everything is terrible" or "Come on, you just haven't seen me in a while." The inability to accept positive feedback is a clear marker of the influence of the "Dark Forces".
• Joy in Others' Failures (Schadenfreude): They may experience hidden or even obvious satisfaction when someone else fails at something: "I told you he wouldn't succeed!" they say with a note of triumph. Other people's problems become confirmation of their gloomy worldview.
• Constant Comparisons Not in Their Favor: They are always comparing with something worse: "The neighbor's car is better," and if you buy the same one, they'll say: "But his boss already has a newer model." This person is never satisfied with the current state of affairs.
• Shifting Responsibility: They often blame others or relatives for their problems ("Nobody understands me!", "Everyone is against me!"). For them, others are always to blame, but never themselves.
• Dramatization of the Mundane: Minor everyday troubles are transformed in their interpretation into catastrophes of cosmic proportions. A broken cup can become the reason for an hour-long monologue about how everything in life is going wrong.
• Cyclical Negative Themes: They return again and again to the same negative topics, even when the conversation has long since moved on. Like a broken record, they repeat the same complaints.
• Energy Vampirism: After communicating with such a person, you feel empty, as if all your energy has been drained. This is no accident – negative energy really does exhaust those around it.
• Negative Anticipation: They constantly expect the worst: "I'm sure I won't get the promotion," "This trip is definitely going to be terrible," "I'm definitely going to fail this interview." And when the negative thing actually happens, they triumphantly declare: "I told you so!".
• Search for the Guilty: They tend to blame anyone for their problems – the government, the boss, their spouse, their parents, circumstances – but never themselves. They often act as a provocateur in communication, deliberately drawing people into negativity, "infecting" them with their pessimism. In such moments, they act as a "secret agent" of the Dark Forces, helping them to "connect" new "victims" to their destructive network (remember our example with the mobile phone searching for a cellular network).

This list is not for judging others. It is so that when you see these signs in someone, you can honestly ask yourself: "Is there something similar in me"?

Behind any prolonged "dwelling on" negative thoughts, as a rule, there is some specific event or series of events to which your Subconscious has assigned a high level of significance. As we have already said, the higher the significance, the stronger the energetic charge of the event. And the easier it is for the "Dark Forces" to periodically "stir up" this event in your memory, forcing you to relive the pain, resentment, fear, anger, rage, or disappointment over and over again.

Your Subconscious, in its natural mode, tries to "digest" this event, gradually, piece by piece, reducing its significance and filing it away in the archives of memory. But you, being under the influence of the "Dark Forces," unwittingly interfere. You seem to bring this event to the forefront again and again, forcing the Subconscious to "re-digest" it, and this process becomes endless. And the Dark Forces actively "help" you in this, and you don't even realize it.

Distortion of the Significance of Events

But the most insidious thing happens at an even deeper level. Having established a stable connection with your Subconscious, the "Dark Forces" gain the ability to influence the very process of assigning significance!

If before, your Subconscious evaluated any event based on your real-life context (your experience, values, social status, opportunities), now "new assistants" are interfering in this process. They begin to lobby for their own interests, forcing your Subconscious to work according to distorted rules:

• To any negative event (even a minor one), they force the Subconscious to assign a heightened coefficient of significance, artificially blowing it up to the size of a tragedy.
• And to any positive event, on the contrary, a lowering coefficient is assigned, downplaying its significance and turning it into a trivial trifle.

As a result, over time, the balance in your inner world is disrupted. You become that very "walking negativity." Why? Because huge logs of negative events are constantly "burning" in your thinking, while the sparks of positivity are extinguished almost as soon as they flare up. You stop noticing the good, as the Subconscious now labels it as "unimportant," and you get stuck for a long time on any little thing that went wrong, because it seems like a catastrophe to you. That is why for such a person, the glass will always be not just half empty, but "terrifyingly empty," which will cause them irritation, anxiety, and despondency.

Ultimately, the "Dark Forces" reconfigure all the "gears" in your Subconscious in such a way that it, on complete autopilot, by inertia, continues to overstate the significance of the bad and understate the significance of the good. This creates a self-sustaining cycle of negativity that is very difficult to break without special effort.

So, let's summarize this first, diagnostic step. Honestly answer a few questions for yourself:

• Are you prone to dwelling on negative thoughts and memories for long periods in your head?
• Do you feel that you are stuck in a "black streak"?
• Did you recognize yourself in the "portrait of a walking negativity"?
• Have you noticed that you tend to exaggerate the scale of failures and downplay the importance of your joys and successes?

If you answered "yes" to at least a couple of these questions, this is a serious reason to think. This is not a sentence, but just a diagnosis. And as in medicine, a correct diagnosis is already half the cure. To admit that a problem exists and that its root lies not in the external world, but in a disruption of your internal mechanism (even if provoked from the outside), is the very first and most necessary step towards healing.

The Advantages of Realizing the Situation

Self-diagnosis is not just a statement of the fact that "Dark Forces" are influencing your Subconscious. It is a powerful tool of "awakening," the first step to liberation. When you begin to realize that your constant negative thinking is not your true nature, but the result of external influence, this already creates the first crack in the "house" that the "Dark Forces" have built in your Subconscious.

Realization also helps you see the specific mechanisms through which this influence occurs. You begin to notice how you automatically "pick up" negative thoughts, how you inflate the significance of unpleasant events, how you ignore positive moments. This awareness is the first ray of light penetrating the dark labyrinth through which the "Dark Forces" have been leading you.

It is important to understand that self-diagnosis is not a reason for self-flagellation or even greater immersion in negativity ("How could I let this happen!", "I am so weak!", "I will never succeed!"). Such a reaction will only play into the hands of the "Dark Forces," providing them with a new portion of negative emotions. Instead, treat the discovery of your condition as an important step on the path to freedom, as valuable knowledge that gives you the strength to change.

When you honestly admit the existence of the problem and begin to understand the mechanisms of influence of the "Dark Forces," you may notice the first signs of the beginning of liberation:

1. Moments of awakening: You start to "catch" yourself having negative thoughts, noticing their automatic appearance.
2. Pauses of awareness: A small pause appears between an event and your emotional reaction, in which you can choose how to react.
3. Questions to yourself: You start asking yourself questions: "Does this event really deserve such a reaction?", "Why am I so fixated on this?"
4. A new perspective on the familiar: You notice how much negativity there was in your thinking and how it affected your life.
5. The first rays of positivity: You begin to notice pleasant moments that previously passed your attention.

These signs may be barely noticeable, but they are extremely important – they are the first signs that the connection with the "Dark Forces" is beginning to weaken, that you are ceasing to be a passive recipient of their influence.

Transition to Active Actions

Self-diagnosis is a necessary, but only the first, step on the path to liberation from the influence of the "Dark Forces." By realizing and accepting this, you are already depriving the "Dark Forces" of their main advantage – stealth. Now you know the enemy by sight and understand the principle of their operation.

And this means that you are ready to move on to the next stage – to the study of specific tools that will help you do a "general cleaning" of your Subconscious, break the stable connection with them, driving them out of the "well-appointed little house" like uninvited "tenants," and regain control over your life.

This brings us to the next, most practical stage of our journey. Let's move on to the section: "Step 2 – Tools for Healing".