George Callens Volunteered to Help Make the In Search Of Heroes Copywriting Program for Journalism and Multi-media High School and College Students a Success
Ralph Zuranski: What is your definition
of heroism?
George Callens: My definition of heroism
is for sure not what I am. I think a hero is somebody who
goes above and beyond, or actually they don’t even have to
go above and beyond, they take action that is totally
selfless. They do things because it is the right thing to
do.
George Callens: They do not do it
because of personal gain, personal prestige or anything like
that. You know, people think of heroes and think of a
person running in a burning building and saving them and yes
that is heroic but there are many other ways to be heroic by
just doing the right thing because it is right, not because
there is any benefit to them for it.
Ralph Zuranski: Did you ever create a
secret hero in your mind that helped you deal with life’s
difficulties?
George Callens: To be honest with you no
I didn’t. We grew up on a farm, didn’t have two nickels to
rub together, I always had dreams but I don’t recall ever
having a personal hero. It is probably when you don’t have
a T.V. growing up and the only thing you hear on the radio
is the polka music your mom is playing and you probably
don’t have too many heroes to find.
Ralph Zuranski: What is your perspective
on goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
George Callens: I would have to say
goodness is the ability to see and act through the good of
others. I would say even an evil person has some goodness
in them because if that person sees some goodness in another
and acts upon it even though they are really uncaring with
everybody else I would say that person has a spark of
goodness.
George Callens: Now that person is not
ethical in that case, ethical is taking the proper action
even when in some cases they may be personally detrimental
to you or personally inconvenient to you. You still take
the right action even though it is not the easiest course,
and moral behavior is the hardest one of all because moral
behavior is more than either of the other two in the concept
of the beholder.
George Callens: You go to some parts of
the world and they may think that violent movies are
immoral; others might think nudity is immoral. There are a
number of things we might think are immoral depending on our
cultural upbringing. Now where I come from we are a little
conservative. You know the nudity and sexual openness might
be considered immoral but yet the old Gunsmoke series was
one of the best series out there and it was one of the most
violent series.
George Callens: I have met people in my
life who thought that show was totally immoral. I thought
it was a totally moral show and each show had a lesson. So,
morality has to be determined by the norm of your culture.
Now is it possible you grew up in a culture where something
really evil is moral? I don’t know, that is a question I
can’t ask, I have to answer for me and for me most of my
moral guidelines are dictated by religion.
Ralph Zuranski: What principles are you
willing to sacrifice your life for?
George Callens: People who sacrifice
their life by running in to a burning building or an act of
war, we consider that heroic, but many times that is an
instinctive reaction or adrenaline reacting to the fact that
we think we are incapable of death, that we will live
forever.
George Callens: I spent five years in
Vietnam and I know many a times when something comes up like
that it is a heroic action. I know some of the people in
Irac that have came back and I have talked to some of them
who some of them may have lost a limb saving someone or
something but when you ask them about it, it was nothing
heroic to them it was just an instinctive reaction that they
did, and I think that probably has a lot to do with morals,
the fact that they instinctively reacted that way.
George Callens: If they had taken time
to think about it and realized the danger they may not have
done it. Now on the other hand, somebody who over a longer
period of time and the first person that comes to mind is
you Ralph, up setting your family and moving to San Diego
to, you and your wife, be the sole car givers of your mother
and father, that is pretty dog gone heroic.
George Callens: That took intension,
that took forethought, that took perseverance and the fact
that you realize it is not going to be over in a few
seconds, you are going to be doing that for a long time to
come and you don’t complain and you do it cheerfully.
Ralph Zuranski: When was the lowest
point in your life and how did you change your life path to
one of victory over all obstacles?
George Callens: The low points in your
life are kind of hard to point out or at least for me
because when they are over I normally forget about them. I
am normally an optimistic person and sometimes that is the
most irritating thing in my life to some of the family
members that are not as optimistic. I can see a silver
lining in just about everybody.
George Callens: I am the little boy in
the story who was put in the room with the pile of maneuver
and he was fine because where there is maneuver there is a
pony, but what I would consider to be the lowest part of my
life is when it was a day or so after I had a heart attack
and I was in up in the Abbott Heart Institute in Minneapolis
laying there and I was realizing that everything I had done
I could no longer do or most things I could no longer do. I
would no longer have my pilot license or I would have my
pilot license but I would no longer have a ?medical? to
fly.
George Callens: I wouldn’t able to be
the bread winner for our family or at least for a period of
time. I would say that would have to be the lowest time and
it lasted a day or two and then after that once in a while
but never something to dwell on. I almost immediately
started focusing on other things.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have a dream or
vision that sets the course of your life?
George Callens: A dream or vision in the
singular I would say is not that important, and in plural
that is life. The dream, the vision, the journey is what
life is all about. I have never, and I know some people
will say from the time they could remember they had this
dream or vision to aim at and I guess that is ok but to me
that would be kind of boring.
George Callens: I have many, many
visions, each one taking me to an upper level. I like to
take multiple paths up to the upper level and I think that
is what keeps me optimistic, that is what keeps me happy
having multiple visions and critical is it? Your dog gone
right it is critical, it is life so about that, I would say
people who are going through depression or people who commit
suicide it is because they don’t have a vision.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you take a positive
view of setbacks, misfortunes and mistakes?
George Callens: Oh definitely,
definitely. You can’t ignore them because they will knaw at
you internally. You just have to say “Hey, this happened
and I learned this from it, what’s next?”
George Callens: I was a corporate
manager for quite a while in the cellular industry and I had
a lot of independent companies who sold our cellular service
under us and we would come out with rules and regulations
that pertained to and benefited the corporation because that
is who we had to watch out for legally but sometimes they
weren’t always so advantageous for the agent and part of my
life and part of my stress was just fielding complaints for
them, but the single most best agent I had, when ever we
would come out with something that was, and I should not say
detrimental but wasn’t in their best interest he would just
call and read me the right act and hang up the phone, then
call back fifteen minutes later and say “Hey George, sorry
about that, I already figured out a way to get around that.
George Callens: He made more money then
anybody else. Those who complained on it, dwelled on it,
never got past it; those people never amounted to much.
They just didn’t have the sales and everything in life is
that way. Yes you can react to a situation but then get
over it and figure out what the next step is.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have the courage
to pursue new ideas?
George Callens: I don’t know what that
is, oh yes I do I guess there is, I am married to my wife
and I I don’t think so but most people would disagree with
me on that. To me I put pursuing new ideas in the same
field with change and from what I understand most people are
afraid of change.
George Callens: I embrace change, I get
bored very fast and I love change, but maybe there maybe is
to a deep level that I wouldn’t want change. wouldn’t want
that to change. Other than that for me, no, I embrace
change, I love it. It keeps me young.
Ralph Zuranski: Were you willing to
experience discomfort in the pursuit of your dream?
George Callens: If it wasn’t hard enough
to achieve your dreams they wouldn’t be good enough dreams.
Anything that isn’t hard it isn’t a dream it is a reality.
So if you are pursuing something and it is going too easily
for you and there is no challenge you really don’t have a
dream or a goal you are just living, you are just existing I
guess I should say.
Ralph Zuranski: How were you able to
overcome your doubts and fears?
George Callens: I just persevere, I push
on. I find it exciting. There should be fear that is part
of life. Our bodies are made to interact with fear and to
carry us to the next level. Many times when I am suppose to
be doing something and I don’t get it done until the last
minute yes there is fear there and I better change what I am
doing and get it done, that adrenaline shot helps me get it
done, and it is a really good feeling.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you readily forgive
those who upset, offend and oppose you?
George Callens: I guess that it is real
important. I went to college late in life, I was in my late
thirties, and one of my exercises we had to do was think of
the person you hate the most and why and it took me a long
time to even find somebody I hated at all and when I finally
did find the guy the more I thought about it the more reason
I found not to hate the guy.
George Callens: When I worked in the
corporate world there was this guy and me and him leap
forged over each other as we each wanted the corporate dream
and many times I did not like him but I tell you what, I
always wished I could really hate him but if he ever needed
any help on anything I tell you what, I was the first to
rush to his side, probably didn’t like but I sure didn’t
hate him.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you experience
service to others as a source of joy?
George Callens: Yes, yes I do. I find
it a lot easier to do things for others and make sacrifices
than I do for myself. That’s why I facilitate these
events. That’s why you probably do good taking pictures at
these events and why you take care of your folks. I guess I
just don’t find it that important to do things selfishly for
myself I just enjoy doing things for others. I think that
it takes a big load off of your mind, it makes your
conscious freer and it just makes life a little easier.
Ralph Zuranski: What place does the
power of prayer have in your life?
I pray everyday, sometimes multiple times.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you maintain your
sense of humor in the face of serious problems?
I maintain a sense of humor in the face of everything.
My dad use to get upset with me and he would say “George,
you are just a grinning fool.”
Ralph Zuranski: Who are the HEROES in
your life?
George Callens: My dad, I guess I had a
school teacher or two that may have been heroes in my life,
but most of my heroes were within my family. My dad, some
of my uncles, I probably even have a brother-in-law that
would fit into that just because I think anyone in
particular who is doing what he wants and in the family he
is the one everyone rallies around because he is totally
secure, not financially but that does not bother him.
Ralph Zuranski: How did they make a
positive difference in your life?
By being who they are and setting an example.
Ralph Zuranski: Who do you think are the
HEROES today that are not getting the recognition they
deserve?
George Callens: I think that any and all
the heroes in our society are not getting the recognition
they deserve. The people that we put up on a pedestal and
call heroes are glory seekers in my opinion and should not
be heroes at all in my opinion. Now I am sure I could point
out an exception here and there but I am making a general
statement. I think the real heroes are the unsung heroes
that do what they do because it is the right thing to do.
Ralph Zuranski: Why are HEROES so
important in the lives of young people?
George Callens: When we are young we
have nothing to base our values on, nothing to base our
judgments on, nothing to base our goals or our future on so
the young have to look to somebody to set an example. Now
they can look to an anti-hero or some negative person and
set their values that way, or they can look at someone
positive or a real hero or a person that does something to
help others.
George Callens: They can look at someone
who makes millions of dollars or they can look at someone
who just has a real good solid life.
George Callens: What ever they look at
and pattern is what they will become. So, it is very very
important that they look at people and pattern people that
are confident in themselves, people that are doing the right
thing because it is right, not just for the money. Now
there is nothing wrong with making money and making that
person a hero but it would be very detrimental if they made
say some of the key people in the Enron scandal as their
hero, if a large percentage of our youth did that it would
be probably a very devastating effect on our nation and the
world.
Ralph Zuranski: How does it feel to be
recognized as an Internet HERO?
George Callens: Embarrassing, because I
know myself and I know my limitations, I know the little
demons in those cages inside me and while I do good things
and I try to in no way, shape or form do I consider myself a
hero.
George Callens: I was really shocked
when you first approached me about this because I just look
at myself as a regular person, I don’t look at myself as a
hero. What I do is hard work. I have farmed and I milked
cows by hand when I was a kid and that is all hard physical
labor but I don’t think I have ever worked as hard as I do
at these life training events and seminars.
George Callens: The fact is after almost
every one I end up having to see a Doctor afterwards because
I run myself into the ground but the truth is I don’t look
at it as work, I am just having fun, I am enjoying it, I
enjoy making sure things run smoothly, I enjoy helping the
people there and interacting with them and if I didn’t I
wouldn’t do it.
George Callens: I have done it for free
and I have been paid for it and I tell you what, it was a
lot more fun when I did it for free, I worked the same on
both of them and that is again why I consider it hard to be
called a hero because to me something like that is very
enjoyable.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you have any good
solutions to the problems facing society, especially racism,
child and spousal abuse and violence among young people?
George Callens: Openness, communication,
putting yourself in someone else’s shoes,
just stopping and thinking, “Would I like to be treated that
way, why am I treating a person this way, does this make any
sense, will I be embarrassed by this later, what would I
think if the public saw me doing this?” It boils down to the
Golden Rule, do unto others as you would want done unto
yourself.
Ralph Zuranski: If you
had three wishes for your life and the world, that would
instantly come true, what would they be?
George Callens: A lot of people would
say peace on Earth but I won’t because I want to add
something to it, it has to be peace with freedom on Earth.
You can have a dictatorship where there is a lot of peace; I
mean no one is fighting because no one dares to. You have
to have peace with freedom on Earth and that means there has
to be openness among all of human kind, an openness to
accept difference, an openness to accept change.
George Callens: Peace with freedom.
Another is I wish I could get my medical back so I could
fly, that would make the world a lot better, and the third
one is, while the first one was more holistic for the world,
the second one which I probably should have put into third
place but we will leave it in second now was very personal
or self-fulfilling.
George Callens: The third one is that I
want to realize what my purpose is on Earth here and I want
to fulfill my purpose, not the goals for myself but the
goals I was put here on Earth for. I keep a little plaque
here in my office in my basement and I don’t know who wrote
it or where I got it but I printed it out on a 8x11 piece of
paper and put a frame around it years ago and it says, “ I
shall pass this way but once, any good there for that I can
do or any kindness that I can show to any human being let me
do it now, let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not
pass this way again.” That is kind of the way I live.
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think about
the “In Search Of Heroes” Program and its impact on youth,
parents and business people?
George Callens: What I think it will do
is set a benchmark that people will have to achieve on say
the adult level, in order to become a hero, and anytime we
raise that benchmark, we will never be able to raise it for
everybody, but the more people we can get to think about it
and strive to raise that benchmark the better it will be for
our youth because they will see holistically a change, even
though there will still be bad people out there, they will
look at the world as a whole and say, “Boy there are still a
lot of good people out there.” There are a lot of people
who do good things because it is right and I think your
program goes a long way to getting that recognition to
people who are the unsung heroes and doing things right.
Ralph Zuranski: What are the things
parents can do that will help their children realize they
too can be HEROES and make a positive impact on the lives of
others?
George Callens: Positive reinforcement
to the children, I know people including in my own family
that love their children very much but they use negative
reinforcement. In other words, if they want the child to do
something they will say “Awe, you will never do that”
thinking they are giving them a challenge but actually they
were giving discouragement.
George Callens: So the parents need to
give positive reinforcement, and the parents then have to
walk the walk. The parent can not fight amongst themselves,
excessively I should say. I will say there will always be
disagreements.
George Callens: They having to be
willing to forgive their neighbor, they have to be willing
forgive each other, they have to be willing to forgive their
children and show that that is not a sign of weakness and
that it’s actually a sign of strength. I would say that is
the parents’ biggest responsibility which is to set the
example for their children, not in what they say but
actually in what they do.