Survival of the Heart Tragedy of the Mind

About the Book

After a life that has spanned more than six decades, Dwight N. Wood, Sr., now provides an intensely painful but transparent account of his story starting from birth and leading to the present day. He always attempted to hide away the damaging scars of a major heart surgery and the sometimes cruel events prompted by poverty. It was his choice to cover up and contain his deepest emotions within his heart and mind. Survival of the Heart Tragedy of the Mind is a spiritual and surprising story of medical survival and human tragedy. Wood characterizes his most detailed memories of his childhood and the sacrifices of his family, which always supported his dreams of living a normal life. After he became an adult, he once again faced the demons of his past physical and mental battles. He recounts the hardships associated with despair, dying, and death. He expresses the mental struggles of living in the past while not looking toward the present and future. The emotional and monetary costs of failing to seek professional guidance nearly led to his demise. Wood admits to the consequences of being a man who has had to deal with denial and rejection. His book is about learning the lessons of life and making the confusing connections between commons sense and poor judgment. He rationalizes the reasons we should embrace love and forgive people. The crucial decisions he made as a child and an adult now allow him to complete his circle of life. Survival of the Heart Tragedy of the Mind is an intimate portrayal of a very emotional boy who develops into a mentally quick and capable man. His often hopeful approach to overcoming human miseries is highlighted by his failures as well as his victories. From his youthful days to his elderly years, he suffered from a congenital heart abnormality and eventually developed post-traumatic stress disorder. His lifelong search for the answers to human love, spiritual happiness, and the true meaning of human life eventually leads him to some remarkable solutions with noteworthy conclusions.

About the Author

Dwight Wood’s Caucasian father and his Hispanic mother would raise two daughters and four sons during times of racism and inequality in America. Their third oldest was a male child born with a rare congenital heart defect. This is that boy’s personal story of being raised in poverty and then fulfilling the educational dreams of his parents. After he survived major open-heart surgery at the age of eight, he received a second chance at life. During the next ten years, he suffered multiple injuries that required new surgeries and dealt with other heart-related complications. In that same period of time, Wood was challenged academically in the classroom and had to forfeit one of his most important ambitions. Two years after he graduated from high school, his father died fighting lung cancer. Afterward, the author suffered a heart attack while his wife was pregnant. He graduated from college and earned three degrees in business administration and education leadership. He utilized two of his degrees and became an elementary schoolteacher instructing children in the primary and intermediate grades. Later in his life, he pursued a second profession in business but later returned to supervisory roles in the field of education. During the final year of his educational career, Wood acted as an assistant principal of a high school. One early morning as he drove to school, his life changed forever. The aftermath of an automobile accident resulted in the unfortunate death of a pedestrian. Out of that tragedy, he developed post-traumatic stress disorder and three forms of sleep disorders, and he underwent numerous consultations with psychologists and psychiatrists. In the book Survival of the Heart Tragedy of the Mind, the author details the improbable lifelong journey of conquering physical pain and mental heartache, human defeat and medical triumphs, as well as the flaws of society and selfless people. He discovers the reasons we love, the importance of forgiveness, and the value of clinical therapy. He uncovers some of the disguised secrets of the stressors of emotional and mental stress relating to life and death. In the end, his faith and his search to understand the true meanings of human existence reach many tearful and heartwarming conclusions.