The milk flower blooms amidst the wind and rain.

QTO - Perhaps optimism isn't a radiant smile on a sunny day, but rather a quiet light in the heart that keeps us from losing our way amidst life's storms. And sometimes, that belief is as gentle as a cluster of milkweed flowers still blooming white amidst gloomy rainy days.

1. My room during my student days was nestled between two long streets. Every autumn, opening the window revealed a row of milkwood trees swaying in the wind. At night, the scent of the milkwood flowers clung to my hair, seeped into my notebooks, and even crept into the innocent dreams of 17-year-old girls. My roommate loved milkwood flowers intensely. Whenever they bloomed, she would stroll along Ly Thuong Kiet Street, take deep breaths of their fragrance, then return and throw open the window to let the scent fill her small room. Sometimes she would even pick a branch and place it in her notebook, letting the scent linger on each stroke of her pen. Her first love was also associated with the seasons when the milkwood flowers bloomed white on the streets. But the love of 17 was as fragile as a flower petal, blooming quickly and fading just as swiftly.

After life's ups and downs, you return to the city just as the milkwood trees are in bloom. The rows of milkwood trees still proudly stretch towards the cold early season wind, amidst the gray rain. The milkwood flowers still bloom, still fall, covering the path. Only my friend has lost the carefree innocence of the past. You said that only after experiencing loss and setbacks do people understand that true happiness doesn't lie in grand things, but in the very moment when one finds peace amidst life's turmoil. It turns out that amidst countless sorrows, finding even a small measure of peace is enough to cling to, to hold on to life, to live more fully. I used to think optimism was an instinct of young people. But the older I get, the more I understand: Only those who have experienced suffering know how to truly smile. When the body is weary, when the heart is heavy, to still choose to look towards the light is true optimism. Amidst that gloom, I suddenly saw a milkwood tree blooming brilliantly in the rain.

Illustrative image - Source: Internet

2. The girl I know has been receiving treatment at the hospital for almost a month. Long, quiet days pass by amidst the familiar sounds of the hospital corridors and restless sleep. From the second-floor window of the hospital, the morning seems to be covered by a thin curtain of rain. Outside, the trees are drenched, their leaves curling to catch the water. Her body is exhausted, but in a sudden moment, looking out the window, she catches sight of blooming milkweed flowers. A familiar scent, both distant and close. The girl raises her phone, quickly captures that moment, and then smiles softly.

Following the young woman's gaze, I looked out into the gray rain. My heart softened, and the sadness and worry in my chest slowly dissipated like raindrops trickling down the windowpane. It turned out that even in a place where people usually only think of illness and pain, there was something so alive, so gentle, and so enduring, like that simple cluster of flowers. As she had once told me in the hospital corridor, life has so many things that make people sad, but also countless things to be grateful for. There are times when all energy seems to have run out, but just looking up at the window and seeing the white blossoms of the milkweed tree still glistening in the rain warms the heart a little. As long as I can still see beauty, still smell the flowers in the wind, still feel the gentleness of a morning, it means I am still living a life deep enough, optimistic enough to continue living happily.

3. During my time in the hospital, I often saw many patients standing in the hospital corridors, gazing at the pure white blossoms of the milkweed tree swaying in the wind and rain. Each person had their own fate. Some resigned themselves to their fate. Others were optimistic, believing that one day they would recover, because illness was merely a test of their own willpower. But whoever they were, they still longed to cling to life, to continue living. Even for those with terminal illnesses, that fragile thread could snap at any moment if they lost hope.

In my hospital room, there's a friend my age who has thyroid cancer. The first time I met her, I was always surprised by the way she talked about her illness: so casually and optimistically. She said that a week after finding out she had cancer, she cried and blamed life for everything. She cried because of her fate, because she felt sorry for her husband and children. She cried because she wondered why life could treat her like this. At 37, she had so many aspirations and plans ahead, a heavy burden of a family on her shoulders, and a past memory that needed to be cherished and lived for. In just one week, she lost 5kg. But now, after all the crying and blaming, she has learned to accept and find ways to face it. At that time, strength wasn't about being outwardly resilient, but about the ability to smile even in the weakest days.

The girl was transferred to a higher-level hospital. Among the patients who often met in the corridor admiring the fragrant osmanthus flowers was an elderly woman with liver cancer. She was quite unusual, laughing, talking, and singing all day long as if she didn't have this dreaded disease. Whenever she stood watching the rain in the corner of the corridor, she would occasionally sing aloud. After singing today, she would think about what song she would sing tomorrow. On days when she felt well, she would wake up very early and exercise in the hospital corridor with a few other patients. She said, "I've had liver cancer for three years now, but I'm still healthy and happy. I'm 73 years old, I've experienced both joy and hardship, what more could I regret?" Despite saying that, whenever she ate a little more, she would sigh in fear of getting fat. Perhaps, one must truly love life and be very eager to live to still have such worldly and feminine worries even when facing death!

It turns out that even in the most heartbreaking adversities, people still have countless reasons to smile, to continue living optimistically, it's just a matter of whether they want to or not. And perhaps, optimism is like this: not a radiant smile on a sunny day, but a smoldering light in the heart that helps us not lose our way amidst life's storms. And I believe that when people learn to cherish such small things, even in the most difficult times, faith can still blossom like the white blossoms of the milkweed tree outside.

Dieu Huong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/van-hoa/202511/hoa-sua-no-giua-doi-gio-mua-9db1a67/