Ralph
Zuranski: I
am Ralph Zuranski. I am
with Dr. Asa Morton.
Dr. Asa Morton is one of
the charitable heroes
that I met along my
pathway through life,
and Dr. Asa Morton, I
wonder if you would
explain a little bit
about your program on
helping people in
Guatemala.
Asa
Morton MD:
Well, thanks for
asking. I work with a
group called Helps
International, which
started in the early
1980’s by some very good
people that decided they
wanted to make a
difference in one of our
neighbors in Central
America. It is a
country that had been
ravished by civil war
for thirty years. A
recent peace treaty
signed in 1976 gave us
the opportunity to start
try to heal some of the
wounds that were caused
during that lengthy
period.
Asa
Morton MD:
I am a physician and I
do reconstructive
surgery and vision
reconstruction surgery
in the form of cataract
surgery, so it seemed
like a natural fit.
About ten years ago, I
became involved with
that group and have
organized vision
restoration teams and
plastic surgery of the
face teams to handle
burns, machete wounds
and other tumors of the
face. So it has been my
pleasure to work with
them and to have them
allow me to join their
wonderful effort.
Ralph
Zuranski:
I know what you have
done has really helped a
lot of people, and it is
a huge project that you
do in generating the
funding to do that and
getting all the doctors
to help. You alone, I
think, probably in this
particular area, would
be able to define what a
true hero is. What is
heroism to you?
Asa
Morton MD:
It is a hard question to
answer because I am a
little uncomfortable
with the word “hero” in
regard to the work we
do. I feel fortunate to
be able to organize
teams and to work with
other people who share
those goals. What we
are doing is what we do
here.
Asa
Morton MD:
We are just taking that
product somewhere where
it is not available and
making it available to
people without access to
care. So, in terms of
my being a hero, I guess
I understand the purpose
of the web page and I am
honored to be included
in that group, but I
think it is just an
opportunity that God
gave to me and I that
have tried to do
something with and share
it with others and grow
it into a bigger and
better thing.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Dr. Asa Morton, what is
your perspective on
goodness, ethics and
moral behavior?
Asa
Morton MD:
You know, we make a
commitment to ourselves
and we live life in the
way that we choose. The
standards we use help us
to define who we are and
how comfortable we are
in being the people that
we are. I tried to lead
my life by the tenant
that I do what makes me
happy with the express
caveat that it doesn’t
harm others and the
sincere hope that it
helps others.
Ralph
Zuranski:
There is a real
question about
sacrificing your life
for others. There are
people that run into a
burning building; our
troops in the military
that give their lives.
Sometimes, there are
people that sacrifice
their life in helping
others. What is your
perspective on
sacrificing your life?
Asa
Morton MD:
Well, I have several
lives. I have a
professional life here.
I am fortunate to be in
private practice in San
Diego and to be able to
earn a reasonable
income. With that
responsibility comes
providing for my
family. I have young
boys and a wife, and I
want to provide for them
an education and the
opportunities that come
with the first world.
Asa
Morton MD:
Beyond that, though,
what is left over allows
me to carry, with their
support, that
willingness to help
others into another
world whose conditions
aren’t as favorable for
young people to have
educations and for
people to have access to
medical care.
Asa
Morton MD:
So, when you put it all
together, you have to
have a health first life
existence if you are
going to work in the
third world, and
combining the two and
keeping both worlds
working in symbiosis is
a difficult thing but
very rewarding.
Ralph
Zuranski:
When was the lowest
point in your life and
how did you change your
path to win a victory
over all obstacles?
Asa
Morton MD:
Wow, that is a tough
question. Dr. Asa
Morton, I had a pretty
bad injury in the early
1980’s in a small ultra
light plane crash, and
came very close to dying
and/or becoming a
paraplegic.
Asa
Morton MD:
But I healed and had
several months while I
was in hospitals and
convalescing to reflect
on the issues in life
that are really
important, and I think
that was a good
refocusing point, sort
of in the middle of my
life to date to stop and
evaluate the directions
I was going and ensure
that everything counts.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you have a dream or a
vision that sets the
course of your life?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think that is an
evolving dream. I want
to stay involved with
our work in Guatemala.
Helps International has
been such a great
organization to work
with. Their president,
Steve Miller, has been
such a friend to me and
an inspiration for the
development of this
large organization that
has literally helped
hundreds of thousands of
people to date over the
time that we have been
involved together.
Asa
Morton MD:
I would like to evolve
my professional life to
a point where my
financial situation
allows me more
opportunities to travel
into Guatemala. I also
want to develop the
youngsters that we take
with us. We take
high-school students and
young doctors and nurses
into this environment
and give them an
introduction to
humanitarian care and
these causes at a time
when they are still
early in their
development, where the
seed can be planted and
can grow for many
years. I think that has
been the greatest reward
over the last few years
of my involvement with
humanitarian work.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you take a positive
view of setbacks,
misfortunes and
mistakes?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think these are all
part of our lesson
pack. If you do have a
setback and you absorb
only the negative from
that that setback, then
it is just that, a
setback. But if
evaluate it and find out
why you were setback by
this and learn from it
and go forward, then it
becomes a valuable
lesson.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Dr. Asa Morton, do you
that think it is
important to be an
optimist?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think some days you
can be an optimist.
There are days when I am
definitely pessimist and
I need to work and
understand why I feel
that way. But the more
I work toward being an
optimist, I guess, the
better and more
productive I am.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you feel that it
takes courage to pursue
new ideas and paths in
your life?
Asa
Morton MD:
Do you feel that it
takes courage to pursue
new ideas and paths?
Well, one of my
preceptors somewhere
along the way in my
medical education said,
“out of all your new
ideas maybe only ten
percent will work.”
Asa
Morton MD:
So, if you have a lot of
ideas and you are going
in a lot of directions
and you are throwing a
bigger net out there,
then your yield and the
opportunity to make some
of those come true
increases. I guess
every new idea I have I
don’t expect to be a
success. But by
becoming involving with
many new ideas, I sort
of increase my
opportunity to have one
or two of them work out.
Ralph
Zuranski:
It has taken a long
time to become a
doctor. I mean, many,
many years of school and
just training, that is
sort of a denial of
immediate
gratification. Do you
think that experiencing
that discomfort and that
long term sacrifice.. do
you think that it is
worth it to achieve your
goals?
Asa
Morton MD:
I do. I tell some of
my patients when they
come in and ask
questions, and they want
to understand everything
about their care, that I
am in 28th
grade. It has taken a
long time to get to this
level of understanding.
I really work hard to
get them to understand
their disease or their
process or their
surgery, but some of the
details are hard to
explain without that
scientific base.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you think that it is
important to believe
your dreams will become
a reality?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think you need to
believe they will become
a reality, but you also
need to accept that not
all of them may become a
reality, and when they
do, what can you do to
redirect and approach it
from a different
direction to make those
dreams come true. I
believe if you have a
true desire to go in to
medicine or in to law or
in to any specialty or
any trade, if you work
hard enough at it and
you don’t give up, then
the opportunity will
eventually open itself
to you. As you pursue
that, though, you may
find along the way that
other opportunities are
more desirable to you,
and maintaining that
truth and flexibility to
change that dream is
very important to being
healthy.
Ralph
Zuranski: Everybody
has doubts and fears.
How are you able to
overcome your doubts and
fears?
Asa
Morton MD:
I guess I think about
the doubts and fears
after I get involved in
something. I do tend to
have thoughts as I start
on a new project. Most
recently, we went to
Guatemala and I was
taking three 16-year-old
high-school students
with me, and the
responsibility of having
them with me on the team
and what that meant.
Had I yielded to those
fears I would have given
up on the greatest gift
and opportunity that I
have been given to
date. So, I analyze
those fears and doubts
but I sort of work
through them in a
healthy, somewhat
aggressive way.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Is there anybody or
anything that has given
you the willpower to
change your life for the
better?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think there are
probably hundreds of
people in my life and in
history that I have
studied and learned
from. There are family
members. From my mother
and my father. All the
other people that have
influenced me along the
way. Probably too
numerous to list. I
have been very blessed
to be surrounded by
wonderful people that
have given me the
opportunity to develop
in whatever direction I
could.
Ralph
Zuranski: Do
you think that it is
important to forgive
those who upset, offend
and oppose you?
Asa
Morton MD:
Absolutely. Anger and
remorse and guilt really
are not productive
things. I think that
you need to end
confrontation and
resolve it within
yourself, because the
only anger that you have
is your own. You can’t
control other people’s
anger, and letting go of
that and moving through
it has allowed me and
will allow others to be
the best that they can
be.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you experience
service to others as a
source of joy?
Asa
Morton MD:
Oh, absolutely. I do.
Working in another
country. Working here.
Just in my job. My
daily job as a physician
here. I get my greatest
paycheck and my greatest
reward from a happy,
satisfied patient. That
could be in the first
world, the third world
or somewhere in between.
Ralph
Zuranski:
What place does the
power of prayer have in
your life?
Asa
Morton MD:
I believe each of us has
their own higher power.
Mine is God and I seek
advice from God, and try
to lead my life in a way
that I think would be
pleasing to him.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you think it is
important to maintain a
sense of humor in the
face of serious
problems?
Asa
Morton MD:
Humor is a very valuable
thing. It helps us to
deal with some of the
internal emotions that
we are having, grief and
other things. How we
use that humor can be a
very healthy habit.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Who are the heroes in
your life today?
Dr. Asa
Morton:
My parents; my family
members; my uncles. The
physicians that have
trained me. The mentors
that have worked with me
along the way. The
instructors that helped
me learn to fly and to
pursue those goals.
These are all people
whom I am blessed to
have had in my life.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Why are heroes so
important to the lives
of young people?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think that when we
are young we can be
shaped easier. The clay
is still not set and
those people that
provide us with insight
into the direction they
took and can sort of
help us along that path
are very valuable to us.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Who do you think are
the heroes today that
are not getting the
recognition that they
deserve?
Asa
Morton MD:
I am going to have to
pass on that one.
Ralph
Zuranski:
How do you feel that
people become heroes?
Asa
Morton MD:
Would you repeat that
question?
Ralph
Zuranski:
How do people become
heroes?
Asa
Morton MD:
I don’t know. That is a
hard one. Again, I am a
little uncomfortable
with the term. I guess
the guys that ran into
the Twin Towers to pull
people out at great risk
to their own life. That
is probably the most
true definition of a
hero. I believe how we
lead our life and the
role model we are for
others, to our children
and to our community, is
a very important part of
that, but I am not sure
I would classify that as
heroism.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you have any good
solutions to the
problems facing society,
especially racism, child
and spousal abuse, and
violence among young
people?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think aligning
ourselves with causes
that help others
decreases the focus on
ourselves. Not lose
sight of the focus on
ourselves, but become
involved in some manner
and in some fashion that
benefits our society,
our culture, the people
around us. Becoming
aware of a bigger sphere
than just the one we
live in, that would
change many things in
our society today.
Ralph
Zuranski:
What do you think about
the “In Search of
Heroes” program and its
impact on youth, parents
and business people?
Asa
Morton MD:
I like your idea, Ralph,
of using the internet.
A tool that can now
spread images just as
fast as it could share
words in years past. To
share stories of others,
and by increasing
viewership and maybe
enticing others to learn
about different career
paths and different
opportunities, we can
grow these types of
projects to a level much
greater than they are
today. It sort of gets
back to your question
before about how we can
do the greatest good for
society by enticing
people at an early age
to become involved, to
reshape how they think
and how they care for
their fellow man, we can
make a difference before
the tree is grown.
Ralph
Zuranski:
What are the things
that parents can do that
will help their children
realize that they too
could be heroes and make
a positive impact on the
lives of others?
Asa
Morton MD:
I think the role model
that they are; that they
provide for their
children; the constant
care and love and
attention that they give
them, and by providing
the children with
boundaries. Today, it
is just too easy to give
up as a parent and let
those boundaries stretch
as kids push and want to
gain new
responsibility.
Children need to have
some boundaries. They
need to know beyond what
point they are violating
the trust they have with
their parents. By
providing that to them
at an early age and
giving them examples as
role models, I think we
can shape a better
tomorrow.
Ralph
Zuranski:
Do you think that it is
important to have
discipline for your
kids? I know there is a
question in society
these days about parents
being their kids’ best
buddies. Do you think
it is important for
parents to actually set
the parameters and use
discipline to help their
kids on the path that
they should go?
Asa
Morton MD:
Absolutely, I do. I do
want to be my sons’
friend, but that is not
my first job. My first
job is to make sure that
when they leave my house
that they have the tools
to survive in life.
That they are
compassionate and caring
people, and if I have to
lay down the law and
become heavy at times
when they want to go
different directions,
then I will continue to
do that. Because that
is the job I took when
they became my rental
property, as it were.
Ralph
Zuranski: Well,
I really appreciate your
time, Dr. Asa Morton.
Is there any parting
thought that you would
like to share with the
young people that are
looking at this video?
Asa
Morton MD:
Ralph, thanks so much
for asking me to be on
your web page. I would
just say that it is time
to get involved. Your
youth is an opportunity
to explore new things,
and there are all sorts
of great opportunities
out there. Viewing and
being a part of another
culture and trying to
make a difference is
just one thing. There
is lots we can do right
here at home and never
give up your dreams.
Ralph
Zuranski:
That
is great. Thank you so
much.
