Book Details
No Storm Lasts Forever
Empowerment, Inspirational, Spirituality
978-1-4019-3985-4
As a cardiologist, Dr. Terry Gordon dealt with life-and-death circumstances on a daily basis. He learned that life is precious and tenuous; it can change in an instant. Such a dramatic shift occurred when his son, Tyler, was involved in a car accident, sustaining a severe spinal-cord injury that left him paralyzed. Leading his family through the experience, Terry's journey resulted in a spiritual awakening to a clearer understanding of life and the truths it has to offer.
Terry has learned that our experiences become calamities only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. Rather than lamenting the so-called adversities, we can choose to be grateful for them, embracing them as gifts from the Divine. These gifts provide fertile soil for growth and enlightenment, offering us the opportunity to transform turmoil, disappointment, and suffering into understanding, insight, and resolve . . . and such gifts are presented to you in No Storm Lasts Forever.
Terry has learned that our experiences become calamities only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. Rather than lamenting the so-called adversities, we can choose to be grateful for them, embracing them as gifts from the Divine. These gifts provide fertile soil for growth and enlightenment, offering us the opportunity to transform turmoil, disappointment, and suffering into understanding, insight, and resolve . . . and such gifts are presented to you in No Storm Lasts Forever.
Book Reviews
“Life was perfect!” says Dr. Terry Gordon in reflecting back to June 29, 2009. A successful cardiologist, Gordon and his wife were content in having raised three daughters and a son. The girls were all college graduates and son Tyler had just completed his sophomore year as a business major. Then tragedy strikes. That night Tyler is seriously injured in an auto accident. In a phone call early the next morning Gordon hears these dreaded words from the attending physician, “Your son is quadriplegic.”
In “No Storm Lasts Forever – Transforming Suffering Into Insight” Gordon shares with us his personal thoughts during this tumultuous time. “I have never kept a diary” Gordon writes, yet his son’s accident leads him to describe his frustrations and perceptions as he deals with his son’s injury. Little did he know at the time his diary was to later become this Hay House book – an inspiring tale for anyone going through a personal crisis.
I liked how Gordon relates uplifting stories of people he meets as he deals with his inner turmoil. Before his 40th high school reunion, for example, he reconnects with his first girl friend. He learns Marcia had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 25 years earlier. The one time actress and dancer is now confined to a wheel chair. “I am actually grateful for my disease,” she tells Gordon. “It has taught me more about myself then I ever could have found out otherwise. I learned how not to reject the pain of my adversity – how not to deny or ignore the hurt, but to embrace it as a precious gift from the Divine. I’ve found that by working through my turmoil, I’ve been able to discover goodness within the hardship, and, more important, what lies beyond the suffering.” These words are a comfort to Gordon as he struggles with why his son has to endure such a terrible fate.
Gordon has another chance encounter at an airport with a smiling man in a wheelchair. The author is amazed at the man’s cheery disposition. “His brilliant smile radiated from an enviable inner peace and happiness,” Gordon writes. In talking to the man Gordon gets new insights. “”I’m not going to tell you that the first two or three years were easy for me – they weren’t,” the man says. “They were pure hell. But you know what? At some point (your son) Tyler is just going to have to get over it.” After this encounter Gordon thinks to himself “When (Tyler) decides to change the way he looks at his circumstance, his circumstance will change.”
The book is full of inspiring stories like this as well as Gordon’s own discussions with his son Tyler. Gordon is a nature lover, and often he will describe a nature scene and turn it into a lesson to help him deal with his son’s condition. The title of the book, for example, comes from an encounter with a violent Colorado thunder storm outside Tyler’s hospital room. “Son, even God doesn’t create a storm that lasts forever,” he tells his son. “We must be patient, Ty. The sun will rise again. I promise you.”
I didn’t find the nature analogies as compelling as Gordon’s people stories in the book, but overall I recommend “No Storm” to anyone trying to make sense of a personal tragedy. There are no miracle cures in Gordon’s memoir, Tyler is still a paraplegic, yet Gordon writes, “the most profound thing I have come to accept is that why the Gordons are facing this huge challenge is immaterial. What’s more important is how we’re overcoming it.” The book can give you healing insights, too, in dealing with adversity in your own life.
In “No Storm Lasts Forever – Transforming Suffering Into Insight” Gordon shares with us his personal thoughts during this tumultuous time. “I have never kept a diary” Gordon writes, yet his son’s accident leads him to describe his frustrations and perceptions as he deals with his son’s injury. Little did he know at the time his diary was to later become this Hay House book – an inspiring tale for anyone going through a personal crisis.
I liked how Gordon relates uplifting stories of people he meets as he deals with his inner turmoil. Before his 40th high school reunion, for example, he reconnects with his first girl friend. He learns Marcia had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 25 years earlier. The one time actress and dancer is now confined to a wheel chair. “I am actually grateful for my disease,” she tells Gordon. “It has taught me more about myself then I ever could have found out otherwise. I learned how not to reject the pain of my adversity – how not to deny or ignore the hurt, but to embrace it as a precious gift from the Divine. I’ve found that by working through my turmoil, I’ve been able to discover goodness within the hardship, and, more important, what lies beyond the suffering.” These words are a comfort to Gordon as he struggles with why his son has to endure such a terrible fate.
Gordon has another chance encounter at an airport with a smiling man in a wheelchair. The author is amazed at the man’s cheery disposition. “His brilliant smile radiated from an enviable inner peace and happiness,” Gordon writes. In talking to the man Gordon gets new insights. “”I’m not going to tell you that the first two or three years were easy for me – they weren’t,” the man says. “They were pure hell. But you know what? At some point (your son) Tyler is just going to have to get over it.” After this encounter Gordon thinks to himself “When (Tyler) decides to change the way he looks at his circumstance, his circumstance will change.”
The book is full of inspiring stories like this as well as Gordon’s own discussions with his son Tyler. Gordon is a nature lover, and often he will describe a nature scene and turn it into a lesson to help him deal with his son’s condition. The title of the book, for example, comes from an encounter with a violent Colorado thunder storm outside Tyler’s hospital room. “Son, even God doesn’t create a storm that lasts forever,” he tells his son. “We must be patient, Ty. The sun will rise again. I promise you.”
I didn’t find the nature analogies as compelling as Gordon’s people stories in the book, but overall I recommend “No Storm” to anyone trying to make sense of a personal tragedy. There are no miracle cures in Gordon’s memoir, Tyler is still a paraplegic, yet Gordon writes, “the most profound thing I have come to accept is that why the Gordons are facing this huge challenge is immaterial. What’s more important is how we’re overcoming it.” The book can give you healing insights, too, in dealing with adversity in your own life.
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people found this review helpful.
I have just completed reading my latest book by Dr. Terry A. Gordon entitled, No Storm Lasts Forever.
Actually, I must confess that I don’t just read a book. I devour it. By the time I was finished with this book, it too resembled most all of the other books I have read and own: amply marked up with yellow highlighter underlining and lots of Post-It Notes crammed within, flagging pertinent passages.
Prior to choosing this book to read, I was unfamiliar with Dr. Gordon. I learned that he is a retired Invasive Cardiologist who practiced at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio for 20+ years. Dr. Gordon is also involved in “Steward’s Caring Place, a wellness facility for those touched by cancer and serves as a co-host of United Way’s “Doc’s Who Rock.” He is also the father of four children, including son Tyler whom the book is written about.
The book is written in a journal format encompassing 47 entries divided among three parts or sections. Journal writing is similar to diary writing though less structured and does not adhere to a methodical timeline of dated daily entries. Think of journaling as putting down words in black and white that help us reexamine what we have been through and what we have learned from it.
In my opinion, this work is a consummate effort by a father to share his feelings of pain and joy in coping with and supporting his seriously injured son along with his wife, family and friends.
Dr. Gordon’s journal-book represents a testament to one’s faith in hope. Hope is and remains a choice for all of us no matter how dire our circumstances. It is a choice over the alternative which is deep despair, depletion of all of your energy and an overall disengagement from active living. Hope allows you the option to climb out of the wreckage after colliding with a stone wall. Despair, or rage will forever keep you pinned there, stuck in the pile of rubble--forever feeling your unhealed wounds. Hope is the promise that a positive outcome is within our grasp.
In the book, Dr. Gordon invokes a quote by Lau-Tzu which is: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” This is certainly so when it comes to the choice of hope over despair, anger and rage.
What I liked most about Dr. Gordon’s book was how he was drawn to nature and drew strength from what he observed both while in Colorado where his son was being treated and also back home where he resides in Richfield, Ohio.
Dr. Gordon and especially his wife believe in the existence of Angels and their daily involvement in their lives. Dr. Gordon shares the experience of one of these angelic visitations to his Tyler’s bedside while he was recuperating from his paralyzing injuries. My wife and I share the same belief in their existence and assistance to us as caregivers of four aging parents.
Dr. Gordon loves music and one of his favorite musicians is Kenny Loggins. I too became a fan of Kenny Loggins in the 1970’s when he sang, played and toured with Jim Messina.
This book will teach you that the unforeseen tragedies that can strike you or a loved one down carry within them seeds of opportunity as well. Opportunity to transform and refine your life for the better as you heal and rebound from the disease, the accident or the misfortune. We can become better people, better spirits as a result of having lived through and endured the experience.
Jeff Dodson
August 16th 2012
Actually, I must confess that I don’t just read a book. I devour it. By the time I was finished with this book, it too resembled most all of the other books I have read and own: amply marked up with yellow highlighter underlining and lots of Post-It Notes crammed within, flagging pertinent passages.
Prior to choosing this book to read, I was unfamiliar with Dr. Gordon. I learned that he is a retired Invasive Cardiologist who practiced at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio for 20+ years. Dr. Gordon is also involved in “Steward’s Caring Place, a wellness facility for those touched by cancer and serves as a co-host of United Way’s “Doc’s Who Rock.” He is also the father of four children, including son Tyler whom the book is written about.
The book is written in a journal format encompassing 47 entries divided among three parts or sections. Journal writing is similar to diary writing though less structured and does not adhere to a methodical timeline of dated daily entries. Think of journaling as putting down words in black and white that help us reexamine what we have been through and what we have learned from it.
In my opinion, this work is a consummate effort by a father to share his feelings of pain and joy in coping with and supporting his seriously injured son along with his wife, family and friends.
Dr. Gordon’s journal-book represents a testament to one’s faith in hope. Hope is and remains a choice for all of us no matter how dire our circumstances. It is a choice over the alternative which is deep despair, depletion of all of your energy and an overall disengagement from active living. Hope allows you the option to climb out of the wreckage after colliding with a stone wall. Despair, or rage will forever keep you pinned there, stuck in the pile of rubble--forever feeling your unhealed wounds. Hope is the promise that a positive outcome is within our grasp.
In the book, Dr. Gordon invokes a quote by Lau-Tzu which is: “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” This is certainly so when it comes to the choice of hope over despair, anger and rage.
What I liked most about Dr. Gordon’s book was how he was drawn to nature and drew strength from what he observed both while in Colorado where his son was being treated and also back home where he resides in Richfield, Ohio.
Dr. Gordon and especially his wife believe in the existence of Angels and their daily involvement in their lives. Dr. Gordon shares the experience of one of these angelic visitations to his Tyler’s bedside while he was recuperating from his paralyzing injuries. My wife and I share the same belief in their existence and assistance to us as caregivers of four aging parents.
Dr. Gordon loves music and one of his favorite musicians is Kenny Loggins. I too became a fan of Kenny Loggins in the 1970’s when he sang, played and toured with Jim Messina.
This book will teach you that the unforeseen tragedies that can strike you or a loved one down carry within them seeds of opportunity as well. Opportunity to transform and refine your life for the better as you heal and rebound from the disease, the accident or the misfortune. We can become better people, better spirits as a result of having lived through and endured the experience.
Jeff Dodson
August 16th 2012
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people found this review helpful.
Last month I was listening to Dr. Dyer on Hay House Radio and his guest was Dr. Terry Gordon. Dr. Terry Gordon is the author of “No Storm Lasts Forever, Transforming Suffering Into Silence”. As I listened to the show I realized that I had heard of Dr. Gordon before this day, but not because of this book. Dr. Gordon was instrumental in 4,500 Automated External Defibrillator machines being placed in schools all over the state of Ohio. As a cardiologist, Dr. Gordon recognizes the importance of this life saving piece of equipment and he has been working tirelessly to be sure that unnecessary deaths do not continue to occur in our schools. It was because of this project that I knew who Dr. Gordon was.
“No Storm Lasts Forever” is not a book about the AED project. This is a collection of journal writings by Dr. Terry Gordon during a very difficult time in his life. In 2009 his son Tyler was involved in a car accident and suffered a major spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. In this book Dr. Terry Gordon allows the reader into his world shortly before and after this accident.
I must be honest, the interview was interesting but I was not yet considering reading the book. I am the primary caregiver for my father who suffers from Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and he is 100% bedridden. Last month I was not ready to go on Dr. Gordon’s emotional journey with him, because I felt that my own journey was enough for me. The universe however had other plans for me and the book continued to cross my path for a few more days after the interview. Then the time came for me to choose my first book to review for Hay House and you guessed it, “No Storm Lasts Forever” was one of the selections presented to me.
“If you are looking for a story with an ending in which everyone lives happily ever after, I would suggest that you close this book right away and try to get your money back.” says Dr. Terry Gordon in his preface to the book. He was right. This is not a story in which the main character rushes to his injured son and nurses him back to perfect health. In fact, there are very few medical details revealed about the accident and the months that followed. When I began reading the book I thought that I might find useful information about physically caring for my father, but that type of information was missing. Instead I found something much more valuable inside the pages of this book. This is a compilation of spiritual lessons that Dr. Terry Gordon learned during this period of his life. These are lessons that were taught to him by not only people, but animals and nature as well.
“Treat this as if you had chosen it to be.” These were the divine words spoken by a voice from deep within Dr. Terry Gordon. I cried as I read the words and I realized that this is not the life I that chose for my father or myself but if I treat it as if I did choose it, then maybe it will actually become easier, and it has. A few days after reading this page I found myself shaving my father with new love and tenderness. All of my frustration and exhaustion that I had previously felt was gone. Treating these tasks as if I have chosen them allows me to perform them with the love and compassion that my father deserves.
This was a book that I did not want to put down but whenever I did the universe showed me my own examples of the many small miracles in my life. It doesn’t matter what you are experiencing or have experienced in your life, there is a lesson for you in this book. I thank you Dr. Terry Gordon for sharing your journey with me. You have changed my life and you have made my spiritual load much lighter.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
“No Storm Lasts Forever” is not a book about the AED project. This is a collection of journal writings by Dr. Terry Gordon during a very difficult time in his life. In 2009 his son Tyler was involved in a car accident and suffered a major spinal cord injury that left him a quadriplegic. In this book Dr. Terry Gordon allows the reader into his world shortly before and after this accident.
I must be honest, the interview was interesting but I was not yet considering reading the book. I am the primary caregiver for my father who suffers from Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and he is 100% bedridden. Last month I was not ready to go on Dr. Gordon’s emotional journey with him, because I felt that my own journey was enough for me. The universe however had other plans for me and the book continued to cross my path for a few more days after the interview. Then the time came for me to choose my first book to review for Hay House and you guessed it, “No Storm Lasts Forever” was one of the selections presented to me.
“If you are looking for a story with an ending in which everyone lives happily ever after, I would suggest that you close this book right away and try to get your money back.” says Dr. Terry Gordon in his preface to the book. He was right. This is not a story in which the main character rushes to his injured son and nurses him back to perfect health. In fact, there are very few medical details revealed about the accident and the months that followed. When I began reading the book I thought that I might find useful information about physically caring for my father, but that type of information was missing. Instead I found something much more valuable inside the pages of this book. This is a compilation of spiritual lessons that Dr. Terry Gordon learned during this period of his life. These are lessons that were taught to him by not only people, but animals and nature as well.
“Treat this as if you had chosen it to be.” These were the divine words spoken by a voice from deep within Dr. Terry Gordon. I cried as I read the words and I realized that this is not the life I that chose for my father or myself but if I treat it as if I did choose it, then maybe it will actually become easier, and it has. A few days after reading this page I found myself shaving my father with new love and tenderness. All of my frustration and exhaustion that I had previously felt was gone. Treating these tasks as if I have chosen them allows me to perform them with the love and compassion that my father deserves.
This was a book that I did not want to put down but whenever I did the universe showed me my own examples of the many small miracles in my life. It doesn’t matter what you are experiencing or have experienced in your life, there is a lesson for you in this book. I thank you Dr. Terry Gordon for sharing your journey with me. You have changed my life and you have made my spiritual load much lighter.
I was not financially compensated for this post. I received the book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
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0
people found this review helpful.
