Ralph Zuranski: Hi, this is Ralph
Zuranski: and I am on the phone with Randy Charach. Randy
for over 20 years has been helping people achieve their
goals and he’s done it in memorable, meaningful fashion. As
a professional mystery entertainer and speaker, he’s made
over 5,000 presentations worldwide since graduating from
high school in 1981.
Ralph Zuranski: Randy is uniquely
qualified. He is the consummate professional entertainer and
expert in the area of communication, marketing and success.
I’ve seen Randy at some of the different Internet seminar
presentations. At one he did his magic show and it was just
incredible. I mean it was mind-boggling.
Ralph Zuranski: In addition to his stage
and platform skills, he has authored 18 audio learning
programs ranging from topics from goal setting to problem
solving. His book titles include
Fifty Ways to Leave Them Laughing,
Synergy Talent,
Secrets of a Millionaire Magician, and
Niche Magic: How to Maximize Your Net Profits in Small Niche
Markets.
Ralph Zuranski: Randy has the ability to
quickly achieve an unusually high level of success in his
chosen fields and he shares his methods in his entertaining,
inspiring and practical presentations. As a rising star in
the Internet marketing world, Randy is in demand at the
different seminars across the United States as a speaker. He
explains in detail how he made over $100,000 in his first
five months as an Internet marketer and the principles that
he now applies to propel multiple and equally profitable and
diverse ventures by harnessing the power of the Internet.
Randy, how are you doing today?
Randy Charach: I’m doing great, Ralph.
And thank you very much for having me participate in this
program which I know that you’ve worked very hard on for
many years. It’s a fantastic effort that you have put forth.
Ralph Zuranski: I appreciate that and I
know that you appreciate my desire to help kids because
you’ve got a lovely wife, [Tana] and daughters [Leilani,
Shera, and Kyla], and you know how important it is for kids
to have some type of future.
Randy Charach: I love children. I always
have. In fact, I remember thinking as a child how weird it
was how much I loved children and I was a child. Usually,
it’s more, you know -- and that hasn’t changed. I just
always and still am quite childlike with my family and
friends and sometimes with strangers as long it won’t get me
locked up if they think I’m a loony. I love fooling around
and being childlike and keeping that childlike mind. I don’t
know if you know this, but when I was 20 I was hired to be
Ronald McDonald the clown and I did that for six years.
Ralph Zuranski: Wow!
Randy Charach: Yeah, and that was a
really great opportunity. I had the privilege and the honor
of visiting sick children in hospitals and at the Ronald
McDonald House and just really being able to connect with
children at a level which was quite dynamic. Ronald, put all
the corporate stuff aside for a moment, is loved and highly
revered by many children and definitely recognized by
children all over the world.
Randy Charach: So instantly, it made it
easy for me as a person behind the mask to go in and connect
with the children and brighten up their day. So I had that
walking in with my big red shoes. That was a big part of
the job and that was the part of the work that I enjoyed the
most, actually.
Randy Charach: The meet and greets at
the restaurants were okay. I did that because that was part
of the job. But really going to the telethons and the
hospitals and the schools and Ronald McDonald House was
something that I really appreciated.
Another thing is as a child I spend a lot of time in
hospitals, too. I gained a great appreciation of children
and suffering that children experience that sometimes adults
who haven’t gone through the same path have trouble
understanding. It’s much different for a child than it is
for an adult to deal with things which may seem trivial to
adults.
Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s absolutely
true. You know a lot about heroism being Ronald McDonald. He
is sort of a hero to a lot of kids. What is your definition
of heroism?
Randy Charach: My definition is very
simple. It’s a selfless act. I don’t know if that requires a
lot of elaboration, but I’ll offer some.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah!
Randy Charach: A selfless act can be
anything that somebody does for the good of any other
sentient being, whether it be an animal or a person. The
degree of heroism I think is completely relevant to the
individual themselves. So heroic acts for me may not be for
someone else and it works both ways.
Randy Charach: A selfless act for
somebody, for anybody, falls into the realm of heroism, the
degree of which a person goes beyond their comfort level and
their means to help other people. That’s where I think other
people start recognizing and noticing different people and
categorizing them as heroes. But I think that almost
everybody in the world does heroic acts on a daily basis. It
is just that it is not widely recognized by most people.
Ralph Zuranski: I know. I totally agree.
One of the heroes in the original program, Gregory Allen
Williams, who is a star on Bay Watch, he actually saved a
man’s life during the L.A. riots and pulled an Asian guy out
of a car that was being beaten to death by the mob and a
Mexican guy stepped in take the beating that he would have
gotten trying to save the Asian guy’s life.
Ralph Zuranski: It’s just amazing in
those moments when somebody steps up and does something that
they don’t have to but they are motivated to help save
somebody else. I think that that is just incredible when
people do good things every day that nobody sees, nobody
recognizes them for, in fact. What is your perspective on
goodness, ethics and moral behavior?
Randy Charach: Well, again, I think
that’s also something that’s actually a good segue from the
other question. It’s all relative to the person doing the
best they can at that time. So just like the hero, if
somebody -- let me give you an example. If somebody has just
crawled out of jail who has spent most of their life in jail
for some heinous crimes and have been surrounded by
miserable situations their entire life and everything going
against them, and they get out and they open a door for
somebody.
Randy Charach: In my mind that still
falls under heroism. That’s kind of an illustration of the
point that I was trying to make when I answered that
question, the first question about the definition of
heroism.
Randy Charach: That same thing isn’t a
heroic act for somebody else who jumps into the fire and
saves people like a firefighter, that sort of thing. It’s
the same with the question about goodness and ethic and
moral behavior.
Randy Charach: Anybody who does
something -- and of course it’s always based on their
individual circumstances at that given moment -- they do
something that is categorized as the best they can do at
that moment, whatever that best might be. I think that they
are living ethically and under moral standards that are
within their environment, within their capabilities.
Randy Charach: Now, don’t get me wrong.
I don’t think that somebody who -- this person who got out
of jail -- if they went and did something bad to someone but
it wasn’t as bad as what they’ve done before, I’m not saying
that’s good, ethical or moral. But I am really a strong
believer that we all come from different places. We all have
different situations at any given moment.
Randy Charach: So goodness, ethics,
morality, it’s all going to come back to us one way or
another I do believe in karmic consequences. If somebody
acts unethically or immorally or in a damaging, harmful way
to others, it is going to directly hurt themselves and they
will suffer those ramifications sooner or later, in one way
or another.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s absolutely true.
It’s funny. Gregory Allen Williams said that there’s a
little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good
in the worst of us, and that when a person steps forward and
does something good at that moment in time they become a
hero. I believe that’s absolutely true.
Ralph Zuranski: There is a real
dichotomy as far as what heroism is these days. It’s like a
question, “Well, what would you be willing to sacrifice your
life for?” We had the heroes like the firemen, the
policemen. Those people are getting paid to sacrifice their
lives, to be in dangerous situations. What do you think is
the difference between people that are actually getting paid
to do heroic things and people that just do heroic things on
a daily basis, like somebody that takes care of the sick
family member?
Randy Charach: I think most people, the
firefighters, the policemen, the military, etc., who are
getting paid for doing things where their life is at risk to
help others are not doing it for the pay.
Randy Charach: I think that’s something
that it just happens to be how they earn their living. I
don’t even consider that really a factor as far as comparing
or judging those acts to someone who is doing something
where they are not getting paid. The same with -- here’s
kind of a new argument that I hear people say. Oh, well, so
and so donates $10 million to charity but he’s worth $100
million or $3 billion and he just does it to promote his
company or he’s an egomaniac, whatever.
Randy Charach: I say, well, okay, so?
The point is let’s look at the result. This person donated
money to charity, which was helpful for the charity. It’s a
separate issue if they go and they need to flaunt it or if
they have ulterior motives. I look at the good that’s done.
I would say the same answer for this one, that whether
you’re getting paid or not, it’s all circumstantial and it
doesn’t really matter. It’s just a matter of if they are
doing good or not.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s absolutely true.
Everybody has low points in their lives. They have low
points and high points. What was the lowest point in your
life? How did you change your life path so you would have
victory over any of the obstacles that you were facing at
that time?
Randy Charach: I can offer a couple of
different -- I don’t which one was lower. I’ve had several
low points in my life. Let me discuss the first one that
came to mind.
When I was 20 years old I started waking up routinely,
like clockwork, in the morning -- I forgot the exact time,
and it wasn’t exactly to the minute, but around four or five
in the morning -- with excruciating pain down my left leg.
Randy Charach: This went on for some
time. I went to see my general doctor and he thought maybe
it was like from exercising and weights, a slipped disc or
something. I went to therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractors,
all sorts of different things. Nothing helped, even pain
killers. The pain was excruciating. This went on for
probably for about half a year.
Randy Charach: Finally, I don’t know how
or why, but I tried using just plain aspirin instead of
Tylenol 3s and this sort of thing, because it was affecting
my life, being medicated and being in pain all the time. And
that worked. It was interesting. I mentioned that to him and
he said well, you know what? I want to send you for an X-ray
because maybe it’s something else. I went for the X-ray;
that didn’t show anything. I started inquiring more with the
X-ray technician and started doing a little research. My
doctor was on to something. The aspirin was related to a
rare bone tumor which we discovered I had, which was benign,
fortunately. And that was discovered through a CT scan.
Randy Charach: It wasn’t so bad. It
might have been a year into it by the time we actually found
out what it was. When I found out what it was, I was
relieved because I honestly didn’t want to live any longer.
Randy Charach: The pain that I was
having was so intolerable and the drugs that I had to take
to live with it were creating other side effects. So I was
relieved. All I cared about was can you fix it? And, yes.
And is it cancer? No, it’s benign. They explained what that
meant, the difference. And no big deal; simple situation.
Randy Charach: It’s funny, Ralph. You
know how whenever you go to a doctor they’re always the
best? Have you ever heard anybody say I went to a doctor and
I had this done and he’s the best? You ever hear them say
and he’s like second best or the worst or for them to leave
out the part that he is the best. Everybody goes to the
best. It’s quite funny that way.
Randy Charach: Anyway, I went to this
guy who is supposed to be the best. He removed the tumor and
then I was okay but only for five or six months and then the
pain came back. I recognized this pain, this very distinct
pain. It was like something hitting the nerve.
Randy Charach: Not just a regular pain;
I knew the difference. So I had it re-X-rayed and it was
discovered that he didn’t quite get it all. And so far we
haven’t hit the lowest part. I am just building up to it,
because this part wasn’t all that bad comparatively to what
you’re going to hear, although it doesn’t get that much
worse, either.
Randy Charach: Then my father, who is a
very loving father, he looked at this with me and said, you
know, if you really want to take care of this, I will take
you to Mayo Clinic in Rochester because they are supposed to
be the best. And obviously the first guy wasn’t because he
didn’t get it all for whatever reason. Let’s just go to
these guys. So we went to Mayo Clinic.
Randy Charach: I woke up from the
surgery and there were two types of pain. There was the pain
from the surgery where they cut open my leg. They removed
some bone. They did some bone grafts, this sort of thing.
Can you imagine how -- think about this -- that pain was
like 5 percent compared to the other pain that I had been
living with.
Randy Charach: The other pain was
overriding it, so I knew when I woke up from the surgery
they didn’t get it. I just knew it. They just, oh, no, no.
You’re confused, dah, dah, dah. They sent me back home and I
was right, they didn’t get it.
What happened was they didn’t re-X-ray and it had shifted
a little bit, so really they went in and just sort of took
out the wrong piece of bone.
Ralph Zuranski: Oh, man!
Randy Charach: It was horrible. So I had
to recover from the next six months and then found another
doctor locally in Vancouver where I live. He said, look, I
can guarantee that this can come out.
Randy Charach: And what I would have to
do is remove a bigger chunk of bone, put a metal plate in
there to make up for that lost of structure. I’ll get it
out. And I said, okay. Now, by the way, right now, just
before talking to him, I’m at my low point.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I guess so!
Randy Charach: Now to end that story and
then come back to the lesson, he did perform the surgery and
it was successful and I’ve been more or less fine ever
since.
Randy Charach: The lowest point was at
that point after Mayo Clinic being. unsuccessful, just
thinking this is now going on like two years. I had to drop
out of college for it and that’s a bit of excuse. I probably
would have done that anyway. I went for one year of college
while this was happening and I didn’t go back. I could have
gone back, and again, there were different reasons I didn’t.
I couldn’t go to school.
Randy Charach: What it did do, and your
question is how did I overcome this obstacle, is I had a
change of attitude. The low point, the manifestation of my
feeling, though, was like throwing food at people and
swearing and hating doctors, people and just being a
miserable guy, right? I was horrible.
Randy Charach: That didn’t last too
long. That lasted about a couple of months until I realized
what I was doing. All of a sudden, and I’m not sure what it
was, what I read or listened to or what somebody said to me,
but it clicked that this is not a way to live, I should be
happy. There are people with way worse. It was benign, I’m
okay now or I’m going to be okay now. And I came back with
vengeance.
Randy Charach: I overcame it. It was
just a simple like switch in my mind, that’s all it was that
I switched. Just turned -- okay, forget it. I’m just going
to do whatever I can. And I went out on crutches after that.
In fact, that Ronald McDonald job, they hired me for it
based on seeing some of my magic shows prior to me being
laid up. I did some shows in between surgeries as well. When
they approached me for the job, I said, well, yeah, but I
have a surgery coming up and it’s going to be a few months
recovery and then I will do it.
Randy Charach: My very first Ronald
appearance was the very first time I walked without crutches
after quite a while and it was on stage at the Variety Club
Telethon for the children’s hospital, walking on stage on
this televised program as Ronald. So that was something that
really did change, truly did change my life, to be able to
do that and overcome that obstacle and turn it around and
come back with a whole different attitude towards people and
life and challenges.
Randy Charach: It was something that,
although I wouldn’t wish it on anybody and of course I’m not
happy it happened, but a lot of good came from it.
Ralph Zuranski: So you believe it’s
important to take a positive view of the setbacks and
misfortunes and mistakes that occur in your life?
Randy Charach: I believe that when
people don’t do that, that’s when depression sets in and all
sorts of other physical manifestations, other illnesses.
When your mind is not easy, then you get dis-ease, that’s
what disease is. Sure, there are physical things. I don’t
think that my tumor was caused by a bad attitude because it
wasn’t really bad before that. It was only temporary. But I
do believe that we can go out and create real physical
problems for ourselves that manifest from negative
attitudes.
Randy Charach: From that accumulation of
what we talked about earlier, which in my mind is relevant
to everybody’s life, and that is the karmic consequences of
our actions. And that’s why when somebody who does something
which is unethical or immoral or when they do anything
that’s going to hurt somebody else, that it’s going to
affect their ability from there on and forever to live a
life in which they are going to be at their fullest
potential. They are directly hurting themselves.
Ralph Zuranski: How important was it for
you to have a dream or a vision that set your course of
life?
Randy Charach: It was and continues to
be really important. For some reason, I don’t know why, but
I started off quite young as an entrepreneur. It was not
really a family thing. I’m kind of odd that way in my
family. One of those things, when I came out of that final
operation for my leg, I wanted to make money. I had a vision
to make a lot of money. I thought, well, here’s an
opportunity. Gee, I can use the pity thing here now. I’m on
crutches. And I have an idea.
Randy Charach: Have you seen those big
hockey games? They are almost like a video game but they are
like foosball, the big bubble and then the sticks. It’s like
Chexx is the manufacturer, Chexx Hockey. Do you know what
I’m talking about?
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah!
Randy Charach: They’re coin-operated. I
saw that, and they were just coming out back then and we’re
going back now about 25 years. I somehow saw that somewhere
in a small business magazine or something. I’ve always been
reading those Entrepreneur magazines and biz-op things. I’ve
always been reading those and interested in that kind of
stuff as even as a kid. So I saw that and I was one of the
first people to actually buy them. I remember they were like
$3,500. I had already made money at that point as a
magician, so I had money to invest.
Randy Charach: I bought a few of those
plus a few other machines. I went down in my crutches -- and
I had my mom drive me around -- I’d go to different bars and
Laundromats and donut shops, that sort of thing, thinking
I’d put these games in here, kind of like the whole video
game thing was just starting.
Randy Charach: Pac Man was a little bit
before that. They said sure and, you know, the deal was
50-50 on the coins. Then I would come along with the bag and
the coin wrappers and my mom and collect these coins. The
vision that I had was to go out and be successful and to
make money and have a little business and I didn’t let
anything stop me.
Randy Charach: Right now at the moment,
as you are aware, and it’s been going on now for a good six
months, I’ve been restructuring my business and I have a
vision for my business. But my vision wasn’t that clear up
to maybe a couple of months ago, so for those first four
months it was really hard because I was running around
trying to fix things but I didn’t know why or where I was
leading.
Randy Charach: I just knew things
weren’t working that well in certain areas. I wanted to fix
them, but until I sat down and really had a clear vision of
what I wanted to do in the near and in the long-term, it’s
really difficult to take strong, positive action that’s
going to be effective.
Ralph Zuranski: Do you think that it’s
important to have courage to pursue the new ideas once they
pop into your mind?
Randy Charach: Absolutely. Courage for
one person, again, is different for another person. For me,
it takes courage, and my wife -- for everybody it takes
courage -- but my wife has, [Tana], she has different
viewpoints on things, which is good. She encourages me and
that offers courage for me to try new things and take risks
in areas that I may not.
Randy Charach: And courage to try new
things outside of business to improve your physical health,
to help others, to step outside your comfort zone, anything.
Really, an idea is something that always starts with a
thought and then we take these thoughts and we evaluate them
and we decide do we want to invest the time, money, energy
to pursue this idea?
Randy Charach: Then typically what we do
is we turn that idea into a vision, a goal, a target or
destination. Then we commit to that idea and then we follow
through with the critical tasks that will lead us to that
destination. All along the path, it requires courage to
continue because any worthwhile idea is not going to be a
completely clear, easy path. It’s important to realize that
and to have the courage to continue or not continue, as you
go along to continue to evaluate. It all involves courage.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, and of course in
what you’ve done over the years, it was pretty uncomfortable
to go through a lot of the stuff that you did. How important
is it to realize that people are going to experience
discomfort in pursuing their dreams?
Randy Charach: Accept it. Understand
that discomfort in your dreams and all areas of your life
will be present. I and others that I know in work -- I will
speak for myself. I’m not comfortable sitting at a computer
and typing.
Randy Charach: Physically it bothers me
because I don’t have proper typing skills. Now, that’s
something that I can and am scheduling into change, to learn
how to type, but I end up cramping up my back and this sort
thing.
Randy Charach: But I do it because it’s
something that I need to do to pursue my dreams. I do way
less than I use to because now I’ve understood the concept
of delegating, and I delegate what I can, and also using
alternatives to getting my thoughts to others.
Randy Charach: For example, right now
this conversation is being recorded instead of being
written. It can then be transcribed by somebody else and
then edited. I’ve done similar things now when I am creating
articles or contributing to books or even writing books
where I use other ways that are more comfortable for me.
Randy Charach: But the point is there is
some discomfort involved and there was definitely during the
beginning of starting writing my first book where I didn’t
have as many luxuries, although I did find ways around it,
too.
Randy Charach: Moving away from
business, there’s discomfort in all sorts of things, with my
children. I have a lot of dreams for my children. To help me
in my pursuit to assist in my dreams for them, and of course
they are going to adjust these dreams and change them and
have their own as they grow. Right now they are infants.
That requires discomfort at many different levels.
Randy Charach: So discomfort is part of
our human condition. It’s something that we have to accept,
that without pain and suffering, it’s really hard to live a
fruitful life. And that sounds really negative, I know.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s true. That’s just
the facts of life, though on the other side of that coin
there are doubts and fears. Everybody has doubts and fears.
There are so many things to fear. That’s the reason I
created the Heroes program is to try and get some good news
out there compared to all the bad new and the doubts and
fears. created by the conventional media. How do you
overcome your doubts and fears?
Randy Charach: Well, that’s where it
helps to have people around you that you love. When I have
doubts and fears, I am very fortunate that I have a very
loving wife and parents. I am very close with the rest of my
family, even my uncles, cousins, friends. I have some really
wonderful friends.
Randy Charach: So I am in a terrific
situation where when I have doubts and fears, I have someone
that I can talk to and share them with I also have a -- how
do I say this? -- it’s not always another person that I go
to to help me with my doubts and fears. When I meditate, go
beyond myself and beyond the human condition into a realm
which I won’t even try to understand or explain. I get help
there overcoming my doubts and fears.
Ralph Zuranski: How important is it to
forgive those who upset, offend and oppose you. It seems
that there as so many people that just take any opportunity
to make you have a bad day. How important is forgiveness?
Randy Charach: It is right up there at
the top of importance on that importance ladder. The only
person you are hurting when you hold grudges is yourself.
When you have hatred or when somebody’s actions personally
offend you in your mind, because that’s really the only
place it exists, all you’re doing is hurting yourself.
You’re not hurting that other person. You might be hurting
other people around you who love you. So it’s very
important.
Randy Charach: The way around that is to
have compassion for the person and understand that they are
doing the best they can at that given moment. Whatever they
are doing really has nothing to do with you. It may appear
to be pointed towards you, it may appear to be directed
towards you, but it doesn’t have anything to do with you. It
only has something to do with that other person.
Randy Charach: That’s where the
compassion lies, to look at this other person and to feel
for them and forget about yourself. If you are walking in a
hospital for people who have mental illnesses, somebody
walks out, maybe they have Tourette’s and they start
swearing at you and that sort of thing.
Randy Charach: Are you going to take it
personally? Probably not. So that’s an extreme example, but
take that and look at every situation with people. Look at
somebody who honks at you when you cut them off, whether
it’s intentional or not. Does it really have anything to do
with you?
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, all that’s true.
How important is service to others? Is that a source of joy
for you?
Randy Charach: It is. It is something
that -- I think it’s a source of joy for everybody. I don’t
think anybody could answer no to that. I believe it would be
a source of joy at some level, whether conscious or not, for
everybody.
Ralph Zuranski: How are you able to
maintain your sense of humor in the face of all the serious
problems that you’ve had?
Randy Charach: Well, first of all, you
don’t know the half of it as far as the serious problems
that I’ve had. Again, that’s all relative. Somebody else
might be listening and go, oh, you want to hear my problems?
You’re lucky! And I am lucky, actually. I am a very lucky
person.
Randy Charach: How do I maintain my
sense of humor is what you asked? It goes back to that whole
childlike attitude that I have towards life. It’s true that
I had lost my sense of humor in many situations and I will
continue to do so, which is good because that keeps
reminding me that I’m human.
Randy Charach: I usually need, in order
to regain my sense of humor of a situation where I’ve lost
it, which has happened very recently. I’m talking like in
the last 48 hours, I need to actually step away from the
situation for a little while and then come back to it and
put it in perspective. And I ask how serious is this
problem?
Randy Charach: And here’s the question I
ask myself, literally. Did somebody die? I’ll go did
somebody die? No. If the answer is no, then I start going
down the list until I realize how trivial it is that I’m
belaboring over and affecting the people around me and my
ability to move forward. That’s pretty much the exercise
that I use and it’s worked well for me.
Ralph Zuranski: Who are the heroes in
your life?
Randy Charach: My wife, my children, my
parents. I look at a lot of public figures who I think are
very, very -- doing a great job for humanity and for others.
I’d rather not mention who they are. A lot of them are
commonly acknowledged; some aren’t. None of them are evil,
that’s for sure.
Randy Charach: Well, I will give you a
hint of where I am going. You know, I happen to think Elton
John is a hero, and that’s why I kind of want to avoid not
naming people because people would go, what? I look at the
way he -- well, certain things stand in my mind. I will use
him as an example and then you can just imagine what other
sort of quirky examples are in my mind.
Randy Charach: There was like a musical
award program, it was within the last couple of years, and
Eminem, the rapper who was on it and he had been widely
criticized for anti-gay lyrics in his songs.
Randy Charach: Of course, Elton John is
homosexual and is quite open about it. They were performing
together, which was really, really nice to see. Whatever the
reasons for it, whether it’s for someone to prove a point or
not, it doesn’t matter, I don’t even think about that stuff.
The fact that they would work together on this I attribute
the heroism in that respect mostly to Elton John and not so
much to Eminem. Not that I am saying anything negative about
Eminem.
Randy Charach: Then when they came out
for their applause, which was plentiful, Eminem stuck both
hands out, gave the finger to the audience. Elton John went
to hug Eminem. Eminem kind of like shrugged him away. But
Elton John didn’t react negatively to any of that. He
instead was probably coming from a place of compassion to
this Eminem guy.
Randy Charach: Let me give you one more
similar example in case this one, people don’t -- some
people are wondering what I am talking about. There is a
fellow who is a Canadian well-known business man named Jimmy
[Patterson]. I have happened to actually met him many times.
Randy Charach: I know him. Every time
I’ve met him, he’s been a really nice man. I’ve only heard
things about him that, other than nice, which are just
things him about being eccentric. Nothing really bad, right?
Randy Charach: But where he really
gained my respect, not so much with my personal interactions
with him, but during 1986 in Vancouver, he led -- he was
like CO of Expo 86 -- that may not be 100 percent; maybe he
wasn’t CO, but he was huge, definitely right up there in
organizing it or a figurehead for it.
Randy Charach: Somebody actually, some
sort of a protester or whatever, threw an egg at his head.
You know, this guy is worth, I don’t know, billions or
hundreds of millions or whatever. He is one of the richest
men in Canada.
Randy Charach: He didn’t even flinch.
All he did was just, nothing. I don’t even think he took his
hand and wiped it off. He just kept going. It wasn’t
important. What was important was the task at hand and what
he was there to do, whatever it was, cutting a ribbon or
something.
Randy Charach: Again, same idea; same
concept. They are doing what’s important to them, they’re
doing what they think is right. They are not taking things
personally. They are not letting other people’s problems --
they’re not making those other people’s problems their own.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah. Why are heroes so
important in the lives of young people?
Randy Charach: Well, because the young
people are the future older generation. Well, not so much
anymore, but it depends on where you cut off the age thing
because now a lot of 20-year-olds pretty much run the
entertainment industry and a lot of other industries as
well, high tech and that sort of thing.
Randy Charach: So if we’re talking teen,
pre-teen type of thing, they are going to be the next
leaders shortly. Those are the people who are going to have
the control -- the politicians, the head of media, this sort
of thing.
Ralph Zuranski: That’s hard to believe,
isn’t it?
Randy Charach: Well, yeah, they get
younger and younger. Ralph, maybe we’re just getting older
and it just seems that they are younger because, well, maybe
when I was 10 and looking up and looking at all these
people, maybe they were 20 then, too, and they just seemed
like they were 100, but I don’t know.
Randy Charach: It’s important because
it’s our responsibility to set good examples for them so
when they come into more power they handle it responsibly
and also as youngsters as they live their life that they do
good, they don’t do harm, and they have good role models. So
the heroes are real important.
Randy Charach: You know a whole other
category of heroes? It’s a generalization because there will
be people within this category who certainly aren’t, certain
types of individuals who do horrible things crawl into all
sorts of different organizations. But when I look at people
like Big Brothers, you know, those are heroes. That’s a
heroic act to help young people. And I think that’s great.
It’s important because they are the future of our
civilization.
Ralph Zuranski: I agree. How does it
feel to be recognized as an Internet hero and gratitude for
offering to help with the program?
Randy Charach: Well, Ralph, I in my mind
think that the only person who recognizes me as an Internet
hero is you, simply because you asked me to be part of this
program. I don’t consider myself, and I don’t know that
anybody else does, consider me an Internet hero. I do
appreciate the acclamation from you, definitely.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, I created the HERO
as an acronym of somebody who helps enthusiastically,
responsibly, optimistically, exceptionally, socially and/or
spiritually. And you are definitely doing that. So it goes
back to the idea of Gregory Allen Williams, that there is a
little bit of bad in the best of us and a little bit of good
in the worst of us and that anybody, whenever they help in
any way possible, that that is a heroic moment. You’ve
entertained so many people as Ronald McDonald.
Ralph Zuranski: I’ve been to your magic
shows. And you really encourage people and you entertain
them and that makes a big difference in people’s lives
because it just makes them happy, you know, they love to
laugh. I think that your magic programs and just some of
your presentations are inspiring. And so I think it makes a
big difference in the lives of other people when you
actually make it better; better for them just at that moment
in time.
Randy Charach: Well, since you put it
that way, it feels great. Thank you.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, good. I’m glad
that you realize that. I know you’ve helped a lot of people
along the way and helped them be successful, also. Do you
have any good solutions to the problems facing society,
especially racism, child and spousal abuse and violence
among young people?
Randy Charach: Prozac.
Ralph Zuranski: Prozac?
Randy Charach: Oh, gee. Yeah, I do have
one. I know it helped me a lot and it was a big turning
point in my life. Also, going back maybe 10 years is when I
discovered meditation and that really helped a lot. It
actually, without consciously doing anything, by meditating
and by simply calming my mind on a daily basis, it did
develop within me a more compassionate being and a less
egocentric person. That was a great, positive byproduct of
the meditation. There have been many positives.
Randy Charach: I think that if those
people in the situations that you just asked me about, and
the prejudices and all these things, I think if the people
who fell into those categories were to sit quietly for
twenty, thirty minutes a day every day, relax their mind, it
would make a huge difference in the world.
Ralph Zuranski: I’m sure that’s true.
Well, if you had three wishes for your life and the world
that would instantly come true, what would they be?
Randy Charach: One would be that
everybody would meditate. The other one would be that we
would all study the great, various, great and only the ones
that fall into a legitimate category, not cults for example,
religious scriptures like the Dhammapada of the Buddhists
and the Bhagavad-gita which is referred to as the Hindu
Bible.
Ralph Zuranski: Of course the first and
the second testaments. I’ll stop listing, but you get the
idea. Studying that and looking -- and finding and
recognizing the commonality among all these great sages and
great scriptures. That would be the second one. The third
one. That’s a good question. Those two alone--
Ralph Zuranski: That would do it, huh?
Randy Charach: That would do it. Can I
just go with two? I’m sure tonight at 5 in the morning I’ll
wake up and I’ll go, oh, there is third good one! Why didn’t
I think of that? Of course!
Ralph Zuranski: What do you think of the
impact of the In Search of Heroes program will be
on youth, parents and business people?
Randy Charach: I thought of a third one.
Ralph Zuranski: Okay, give it to me.
Randy Charach: And this won’t be
possible for everybody living in all parts of the world. If
we treat ourselves well, if we eat healthy foods and
exercise and don’t abuse our bodies and our minds with
chemicals and drugs, this sort of thing, that would be my
third. I think that would also make this world a much better
place to live in. Okay, and I’m sorry. What was your last
question? I knew I had to have it.
Ralph Zuranski: The last one was what do
you think about the In Search of Heroes program and
its impact on youth, parent and business people?
Randy Charach: I think it is absolutely
wonderful, I really do. I’m happy and honored to be part of
it. I know that other people that you’ve categorized as
heroes and have invited into this program who are
participating, I am fortunate and blessed enough to be
friends and acquaintances with many of them and I know that
they are well-meaning people who are successful who are
going to have a great impact on the lives of others. I am
really happy about it and I fully support you and your
efforts and the entire program.
Ralph Zuranski: Well, thank you, I
appreciate that. As a final question, what are the things
parents can do that will help their children realize that
they, too, can be heroes and make a positive impact on the
lives of others?
Randy Charach: They can be heroes.
That’s what they can do. They can lead by example. If they
do all the things that heroes do, their children will likely
follow suit,
Ralph Zuranski: Boy, that’s true, isn’t
it? The examples of the parents have such a big impact on
the kids.
Randy Charach: Absolutely. I believe
that parents who set good examples and love their children
unconditionally, treat themselves and their children and all
the people around them with the utmost kindness and respect
and compassion and who understand the laws of unity, of all
sentient beings and karmic consequences, I believe that most
of the children of those types of parents will turn out to
be real great contributors to society.
Ralph Zuranski: The flip side of that,
children who are born into families where their parents are
not spiritually evolved, who are maybe living lives that are
selfish and harmful to others, still have an opportunity to
live life in which they do selfless acts and where they live
compassionately and help other people. I don’t think we are
locked into it as people when we are born.
Ralph Zuranski: There is genetics and
there is environment. The genetics is something that people
can’t necessarily change completely. Our environment we can
as we grow up, as the children grow up and become thinking
individuals. Of course they’re thinking right away before
they are born, I realize that. But as they get older in the
world and they can make decisions and understand concepts
and realize they do have the ability to change. They don’t
have to be like their parents.
Ralph Zuranski: Yeah, I totally agree
with that. Well, Randy, I really appreciate you taking your
time and answering those questions. I just thank you and ask
you if you have one parting comment?
Randy Charach: Yeah, Ralph, keep doing
the great work you are doing and any time I can help you,
I’ll be there for you.
Ralph Zuranski: I appreciate that. Thank
you so much, Randy.
Randy Charach: Sure.
Ralph Zuranski: I appreciate your help.
