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- #44: Be present
#44: Be present
Shem Opolot
November 03, 2023
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Who am I? I’m Shem Opolot, a health professional turned content creator, passionate about helping people be their best selves in life and work.
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Happy Friday 🎉 Tinder joined the group chat, saw all the “this is him” or “this is her” pictures, and decided to bake that experience into their next software update. Tinder will soon allow users to get input from family and friends right in the app. This won’t apply to most Ugandans (of course), since Tinder in Uganda is primarily the fastest way to extort an expat.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
ONE THING I’VE LEARNED
Be present.
Gif by hibreadtree on Giphy
I’m typing this in the waiting lounge at Entebbe Airport, waiting for my first ever Uganda Airlines flight, which has been delayed since this morning. It’s now 11 p.m.
But all this pales in comparison to what’s ahead of me.
I first went to America in 2010, and it has been 13 years since I first ordered pizza on the phone using an American accent; took a yellow cab and watched the dollar figure on the dashboard counter rise dangerously close to all the money on my account; and discovered online shopping.
I remember when I forgot my passport on the airport counter on my first day, and Ms. Brenda Lewis, who was in charge of international students, called the airport and had the passport delivered to the school within 3 days.
I remember using my Ugandan accent to flirt with the ladies in the business office to get my transcripts sent to prospective schools, despite the tuition debt I owed the college.
I remember growing mini dreads the length of my index finger and trying to Skype my mum in the dark so she wouldn’t see them—she saw them.
I remember rupturing my patellar tendon during a basketball game, discovering the mess that is mystery medical billing in America, and ending up on an operating table in Flagler Beach, Florida, with the fee for the surgery waived.
I remember moving to Ohio and sleeping on my friends’ couch for six weeks, and then sleeping in a 15,000-square-foot mansion by myself for close to a year.
I remember when my work permit expired and I had to move back to Florida to stay with my lethargic but loving host parents, who sheltered me in exchange for occasionally babysitting their grandchildren.
I remember my visa getting denied in 2016 because I overstayed in the US during that period when I was babysitting and assembling pool tables for extra cash. But if I hadn’t stayed in Uganda a little longer than I was supposed to, I never would have met my wife.
As the soft murmurs of the hundreds of conversations in this lounge crowd the room and become noise, I am overwhelmed with emotion. In about 2 weeks, I’ll become a permanent resident of the US. And throughout the times I reflect on, I survived mainly by God’s grace, the kindness of others, and being present. By not looking too far ahead or too far behind.
So…I’m anxious. I’m excited. I’m terrified.
But for now, I’m wearing grey Nike shorts, a black t-shirt, black Nike socks that stop just below my shins, black Nike sneakers, and the best black waterproof jacket from Uniqlo. I lotioned my legs generously, but I seem to have missed a spot in the armpit of my left knee. My seat is as (un)comfortable as a bicycle seat, and the fluorescent lights above are bright enough to make even Angel Gabriel shy.
I can only focus on now.
Have a good weekend and say a little prayer for me.
SHAMELESS PLUG
In a year, TLDR Weekly will have over a million readers. Don’t you want to be that annoying person in the bar who says you used to read it when it was still small and good?
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MY FAVOURITE THINGS
A quote
At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this? And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?
A picture
Zion and I have spent a lot of time together these past few days. I’m grateful. However, a 14-hour flight with a 2-year-old is all the birth control you’ll ever need.
PRO TIP
The right way to drop down
Here’s your data:
There are multiple departments, and we want to use drop-downs to make it easier to add new departments in the future because we’re manifesting growth.
If you don’t know how to create dropdowns, here’s the Google Sheets version, and here’s the Excel version.
I want to show you how to update your drop-down list(s) automatically in Excel.
There are 2 ways to make a drop-down list:
Select the cell or range where you want to add a drop-down then go to Data > Data Validation > Allow: List, and:
1) In the Source box, type the drop-down items in manually, separated by commas
or
2) Create a reference list for the drop-downs and place it’s cell reference inside the Source box.
I recommend #2 if you know your list can change in the future.
1. Convert your reference list to a Special Excel table, by selecting the whole list and using the shortcut ⌘ + T on a Mac, or Ctrl + T on a PC.
Blown away by Special Excel tables? Here’s a crash course.
Select the departments in the Department column, go to Data > Data Validation > Allow: List, enter cell reference of your Reference list into the Source box, and hit OK.
Now you can add new departments by just typing them in the cell immediately below the Finance cell.
The table will expand automatically…
You know the table is expanding because of the color
…and so will our drop-down lists 😁
✅
WHERE FUN GOES TO FLOURISH
The Friday Fix playlist
Brain teaser
From Braingle.
What number, when 10 is subtracted from it, ends up, absolutely, as the same number that we started with?
Answer below
Shem’s picks
✔️ Broswe: An online museum of the early internet
✔️ Marvel: The best inventions of 2023
✔️ Discover: Spotify’s full genre list
Brain teaser answer
Answer: 5
Explanation:
5 - 10 = -5
The absolute value of -5 (written as |-5|) is 5, the same number that we started with. So, "absolutely" it's the same.
Have a great weekend,
— Shem
Et cetera
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