Date: 10/09/2026
All rights reserved by the author
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
— Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Act III
I like this line because life does not always give us a choice about where we stand.
Some days are difficult.
Plans go wrong. People disappoint us. Something we had hoped for takes longer than expected.
We may not be able to change the situation immediately.
But perhaps we can change where we look.
A problem is still a problem.
Yet beyond it, there may still be something worth seeing.
A friend who remains.
A lesson we did not expect.
A second opportunity.
A quiet evening after a difficult day.
Looking at the stars does not mean pretending that the ground beneath us is not there.
It simply means remembering that the ground is not the whole world.
Sometimes we need to deal with what is in front of us.
And sometimes, after doing that, we need to look up.
Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
Email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
YouTube: Converse With A Smile
