Asa Rodriguez's Blog, page 13

Pay attention

What is truly important

I feel grateful for my family. Grateful for being able to be an author and follow my passion for creating and sharing stories with the world. And very grateful for you, for being able to write my thoughts and having people taking time to read it. So thank you.

I feel that most of us are not that good at reminding ourselves to be grateful for what we have in our lives–for the little or much we do have. And being grateful is so important, it strengthens our brain, it brings us more positivity, and it makes us more capable of experiencing love in ourselves daily.

The simple power

Just imagine if you didn’t have family, or the capacity to physically move, or a job, or the dreams and visions to create a better future for yourself, or whatever you have now. Never understimate the simple power of being grateful.

Don’t be like many people out there, many who are quick to forget and instead focus on what they do not have. The reality is now. Love and happiness are now. It is all in the simplicity of a heart and mind filled with gratitude.

-THANKS FOR READING-

Dark Fantasy Pre-order

Hope you are enjoying your week and keeping positive, friends. I always like to keep a positive attitude, especially in these times when friends and family might gather (different backgrounds and cultures, different points of views and attitudes towards life).

–I wanted to let you know of the pre-order status of my newest book in the series, “Shadow Ghouls of Nergus.”

Please follow this link- Click here – , or the one at the very bottom of this blogpost to find out more.

…Or click on the image below:

I have really taken my time and dedicated to the unravelling plot with this one in a way that teases what is coming and the rise of the demon lords, as it is crucial in the development of his journey in the full series. And so, just in time for Christmas, this 4th one is the epic journey of this incredible shaman and orphan boy who’s now learning to be a god.

-Dark fantasy.

-Highly spiritual.

-Written in a very unique style.

-Meant to provoke insights into self-realization beyond entertainment.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Preorder now : Discover what hides in the abyss…

-THANKS FOR READING-

New book…

Top 10 in U.S. in ‘Children’s Scary Stories’, and in ‘Children’s Coming of Age Fantasy Books’, and in ‘Children’s Paranormal, Occult and Supernatural Books’, “The Call of The Shaman”, #1 in the epic Dark Fantasy series, is the story of a 12-year-old orphan boy who is trying to discover himself.

His father was a great shaman. His mother a great healer. Great ancestral indigenous roots. And after the visit from his ‘believed’ dead father, he must go on a journey to discover who he really is, the magic he has inside him, and the connection to the ancient Sumerian gods. All this while managing the great curse, the ghouls, and the wicked necromancer on his path…

If you haven’t read #1 yet, right now and for a limited time it is free to download on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. Please browse through my website and learn more, or find it here: “The Call of The Shaman.”

And to celebrate the new book in the Dark Fantasy series that I have soon coming out, #4, “Shadow Ghouls of Nergus”, I want to share an exerpt from Chapter 48 – Titled: ‘Everything you Believe.’

His  eyes  were  wide  open  in  astonishment.  “You  can  talk??”

“Hmm,  can  I  talk…??  Let’s  see,”  he  said  in  deep  thought.  “Hmm.  Yes,  apparently  I  can.  And  so  can  you.”

“I  mean,  how  can  you  talk??”  Ben  insisted  putting  the  feather  back  in  his  pocket. 

“Hmm,  what  a  fascinating  question,”  the  dragon-wolf  continued.  “I  dunno.  Never  really  thought  about  it.  And  how  can  you  talk??”

“Well,  I  am  human.  We  have  vo—”

“WAIT—!”  he  interrupted.  “I  really  don’t  care.”

Ben  saw  him  in  a  very  serious  pose,  as  if  some  kind  of  Greek  philosopher.  This  hybrid  creature  looked  very  funny.  He  seemed  to  be  very  conscious  of  himself,  but  his  fairly  generous  size  and  his  long  tail  swaying  side  to  side  as  he  remained  in  thought  made  Ben  chuckle.

“Oh,  yes!  You  were  going  somewhere.  Where??”

“I  think  I’m  being  punished  for  what  I  did,”  Ben  explained.  “I’m  dying  of  thirst.”

“Oh,  yes,  look  at  that.  You  don’t  look  so  good,”  he  said  while  noticing  his  pale  complexion.  “You  might  be  right.  I  might  be  talking  to  a  dead  boy  after  all.  Or  soon  to  be.”

“Gee,  I’m  so  glad  you  came.  Thanks.”

“Oh  cheer  up,  you!  It’s  not  that  bad!”  the  hybrid  creature  said  while  moving  one  of  his  wings  and  exposing  the  rich  sand  for  him.  “Take  some  water  now.”

“Umm.  What  water…??”  Ben  asked  suspiciously.

“What  is  it  that  you  mean??  The  delicious  spring  water  in  this  crystal  glass,”  he  said  while  motioning  with  his  wing.

Ben  looked  closer.  Maybe  he  was  having  problems  with  his  vision  too.  He  moved  the  giant  wing  out  of  the  way  just  to  make  a  point.  “There’s  no  water  there.”

“Of  course  there  is.  You’re  thinking  too  much.  Now  stop  seeking  excuses,  reach  the  glass,  and  drink  the  water.”

Ben  smiled  and  looked  awkwardly  at  the  talking  dragon-wolf.  “You’re  an  illusion,  just  like  this  whole  place,  aren’t  you??  Just  like  I  can  talk  clearly  now.”

“But  do  you  still  feel  thirsty,  about  to  die??”

Ben  took  his  time.  He  felt  different  now,  but  the  lingering  exhaustion  as  other  side  effects  from  dehydration  were  there. 

Then,  gathering  himself,  he  said,  “Weirdly,  yes.”

“Then  drink,  and  live.  Or  don’t  drink,  and  die.  But  do  not  waver  anymore,”  the  hybrid  said,  then  turned  around  and  away  from  him.

Ben  felt  silly,  and  he  still  thought  this  was  an  illusion.  He  probably  was  dead  already,  or  maybe  unconscious  somewhere.  He  didn’t  really  care.  He  carried  his  big  burden.  And  he  knew  the  gods  weren’t  happy  with  him.  He  then  went  ahead,  took  the  make-believe  glass  and  drank.

“How  do  you  feel??”  asked  the  dragon-wolf.

Ben  left  the  now-visible  glass  on  the  strange  sandy  surface.  “Hey,  it  was  real!”

“Of  course  it  was!  Everything  is  real  if  you  believe  in  it.”

HHFFMMTT!  Suddenly,  the  glass  was  swallowed  by  the  hungry  mound.  Ben  saw  this  and  rubbed  his  eyes,  then  looked  yonder  and  saw  his  friends  down  at  the  foot  of  a  cave.  They  were  waiting  for  him,  just  like  he’d  told  them. 

Then  the  hybrid  came  to  him  and  said,  “You  have  good  friends,  Ben.

“I  know  they’re  angry  with  me.  But  my  friends  shouldn’t  be  punished  for…”

I hope you enjoyed this section of the story. “Shadow Ghouls of Nergus”, #4 in the epic series BENJAMIN JONES, is coming soon…

And, as mentioned above, if you haven’t read #1 yet and started the adventure with Ben, right now and for a limited time it is free to download on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. Please browse through my website and learn more, or find it here: “The Call of The Shaman”

-THANKS FOR READING-

Advent 2022: Day 17

Good morning! Hopefully, you all had a wonderful week and are ready for a little downtime today.

Speaking of which, here’s some Christmas music to facilitate your Saturday whether that means wrapping gifts, decorating, or even baking. Who better to serenade you than “Old Blue Eyes” himself?

Okay, that’s all for now. Have a musical day, everyone!

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Personal issues

What we carry

In my youth I used to keep anger and frustration bottled up, and sometimes I would subconsciously seek the smallest things, trivial annoyances, to explode and let it out, especially with my brothers.

I would lose my temper really quick with them. Not something I’m proud to admit. But, as I grew up, I started adding meditation and studying psychology to change my perception of things, which worked wonders for me.

Because it was painful to carry all this anxiety when young, and even though I wanted to change it was difficult without more knowledge and understanding of myself. So, what I’m saying is that we all go through something personal, and it’s heavy on us because it affects all our perceptions in life.

Leaving the burden is personal

It even programs our DNA, our subconscious and the automatic reactions we have in life. It depletes our energy, it makes us age faster and without grace, it dulls our senses and lowers our intelligence and creativity, our relationships get affected in all aspects–especially when it comes to sexual desire and performance.

The reality is that we can all change, but it takes a personal committment from you; because it’s not about the world but about changing you and the mental programming running you. No one is perfect, but chasing excellence and creating better habits for ourselves leads to self-healing; and that is definitely something we all want in our lives.

-THANKS FOR READING-

Secrets of a woman…

Understanding her journey

Pay attention, men: She won’t say to you how much, or how severely, she has been hurt by a past flame, a past relationship. A man was talking about how strange a woman he likes was acting, and it made me think that most of us men oftentimes ignore what women do not really tell.

See, most women tend to emotionally invest a lot in relationships, and as most men are not mature enough they hurt them. The average man tends to mature by his 40s. The average woman by her 30s. The way genders are raised in most cases.

What it takes

So it takes patience and understanding for a woman to see herself and find how special she really is again. The process is not so easy when your heart’s been broken and your dreams crushed. I like to think of the line in the movie ‘Notting Hill’ – “After all, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her .”

She was a famous and rich actress in the movie. He was a simple worker in a bookstore. But it doesn’t matter her beauty, her fame or riches, because a woman deep inside just wants to feel loved. After all, the greatest gifts nature has bestowed upon women are their beauty and empathy.

Patience and dedication, men. If you find her worth to pursue, if she truly inspires you, give it all your patince and commitment. Be a real man, give her freedom and time to find herself. That’s all love is–freedom to discover yourself.

-THANKS FOR READING-

Vast horizon

The mental prison

We all have proplems–financial, in relationships, personal, etc. And the mind can be a prison. When one lives in one’s own mental world, great distress, great overthinking. This can really drive a person mad, and make this one aggressive towards others as well.

We may even lose focus of what is important in our lives, neglect ourselves and those close to us. I personally let it go. It’s a mental practice, never becoming attached to anything at all; but especially to those things I have no control over.

The greatest freedom

And letting go is not so easy at times. But is freedom what we must seek in life, not more debt, not more beliefs, not more traditions, not more commitments to something we are not passionate about. But freedom. Always freedom.

Freedom is psychological. To feel free to think clearly. To feel free from overthinking and the burdens it brings. We will love life according to how we feel. If we feel positive, there’s a bigger chance and capacity for us to be happy and in love.

-THANKS FOR READING-

That special someone

To love another

It’s about your mind, not people. To find, and to always keep, a person special for you, your mind has to let go of the painful memories you’ve lived, your mind must become free of judgment, your mind’s duty must be then to stop self-pity and self-doubt.

To love another, to care for another, to see the value in another, is easy if you lose all the fear and anxiety that comes from trying to control the way someone is or the way someone should be. Pay attention: We don’t truly love someone because we need. We love someone because we want.

And wanting to love someone is a decision, and a hearfelt desire, only your mind makes. Is not fate or destiny. Is not a thread connecting 2 hearts. Let’s leave romance aside. Because it’s about your mind, the freedom in it from judgment, and the capacity to silence its noise.

-THANKS FOR READING-

Squashing self-doubt

Breaking barriers

Sometimes people think that it cannot be done, because others haven’t achieved it in the past, or because it doesn’t exist yet. But I personally like to push boundaries. I create my own style, in my writing, in the fitness of my mind and body, and in life in general.

This gives me great power and freedom. Because life is entirely about breaking barriers. Besides, isn’t life about discovering yourself?? You cannot truly discover who you are, and what you can become, if you have mental limitations or fears that control the way you act, think and feel.

Develop your creativity

Be grateful for what you have, and for what you have lived, of course. But do not stop there. Make sure you are always pushing yourself, learning more, opening your mind to more.

The greatest tool to develop is creativity, because this expands your mind–regarding empathy, self-awareness, an easy-going attitude, the capacity to see solutions and create new paths in your life. So, always squash self-doubt by pushing yourself and just doing always more of what leads you to be better and create better.

-THANKS FOR READING-

Just like in war…

Deceptions of war

Below is a photo of World War 1, of an observation post disguised as a tree. It tells you that in war, deception is the main tool used. Wars are about power, control, about competing to win at any costs.

Most times, all this starts as seeking freedom and justice (in the deluded mind of government officials); but as the war starts people loses all meaning of freedom and justice (love), and they only see winning and showing superiority over others instead.

Also in relationships

It’s kind of interesting to think that when a person lacks character in a relationship, he begins also to use deception, cheating, lies, gaslighting, all forms of dishonesty like in a war.

The mind of the person gets so narcissistic that he starts playing the games of competing and controlling. Because the person lost all meaning of love by now. The loss of love makes us irrational, violent, bullies, inhuman, just like war. Something to think about.

-THANKS FOR READING-