Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the

Hear the enduring words of Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary who carried the fate of a nation upon his shoulders: “Remember, the storm is a good opportunity for the pine and the cypress to show their strength and their stability.” This is not only the wisdom of a leader but the ancient lesson of nature itself. For in the calm, all trees stand tall together, their leaves glittering alike in the sun. But when the storm descends—when wind lashes, when rain pounds—then the difference is revealed. The weak are uprooted, the shallow bend and break, but the pine and the cypress, rooted deep and steadfast, endure.

This teaching is more than a reflection on trees—it is a parable of the human spirit. The storm is the trial, the hardship, the adversity that comes to every life and to every people. Many pray for the storm never to come, but Ho Chi Minh reminds us that storms are not merely destroyers; they are revealers. They show who is strong and who is weak, who stands firm and who falls away. Without storms, there is no proving ground, no revelation of true character.

The ancients honored this truth. In the East, the pine and cypress were long symbols of endurance, their evergreen needles a sign of constancy through winter’s cold. In the West, too, philosophers like Seneca declared that hardship is the test of virtue, for it is easy to seem noble when fortune is kind, but greatness is measured in the tempest. A soldier untested in war may look proud in his armor, but only in battle is his courage revealed. So too with men and women: without trial, their strength lies hidden, unknown even to themselves.

Consider the story of Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Britain stood alone, the storm of tyranny pressing upon its shores, the skies black with threat. In that storm, weaker leaders might have yielded, seeking false peace. But Churchill, like the pine and cypress, stood firm. His voice, his will, his unshaken defiance gave strength to a nation. The storm became his proving ground, and through it his name became immortal. Without the storm, his strength would never have been revealed so brightly.

Ho Chi Minh himself spoke these words amid the struggles of his people, who faced colonial rule, war, and hardship. For him, the storm was not only metaphorical but real—the thunder of guns, the fire of conflict, the suffering of a nation longing for freedom. Yet he called his people to see in that storm not only despair but opportunity: the chance to show resilience, to prove that they could not be broken. The pine and cypress were symbols of Vietnam itself, enduring through the tempests of history.

What lesson, then, must you take? Do not curse every storm that enters your life. Do not flee from hardship as though it were only an enemy. Instead, see it as the crucible in which your strength is revealed. When the winds rise against you, ask not “Why me?” but “What within me shall stand firm now?” For it is in adversity that you discover the depth of your own roots, the hidden power you did not know you possessed.

Practical actions are these: when difficulties come, stand firm and do not panic. Take time to ground yourself—through reflection, through patience, through courage. Draw strength from your values, your faith, your principles, as the pine draws nourishment from the earth. Seek not to avoid storms entirely, for they are part of life’s journey. Instead, prepare yourself so that when they come, you do not falter.

Thus remember the wisdom of Ho Chi Minh: the storm is not only danger but opportunity. It is the stage upon which strength reveals itself, the fire in which stability is tested, the moment when the steadfast rise above the fleeting. Be as the pine and the cypress—rooted, unshaken, enduring—and you shall find that no storm can conquer you, but only crown you with the honor of having stood unbroken.