“When things are going great, it is only a matter of time before they go bad.”

Perhaps the above thought keeps a lot of us on lockdown.

“Better to be protected, right?”

“Protected from what exactly?”

“From getting killed. Or worse, killing myself”

“Time will kill us all one day”.

Consequence. A word often associated with negativity. Nobody likes it. Nobody likes termination. Repercussion. Aha! that’s another scary word. A by-product of addiction.

Stigma and bias shame us all. Addiction is a brain disorder. You could see a broken bone. You could see a swollen eye. The invisibility of brain disorder deepens its mystery and widens the discrimination. But, imagine if you are blamed for having cancer. Who wakes up at 5 AM in the morning and decides to have a broken neck? Brain disorder is NOT a decision.

Let me cause a little kerfuffle.

We are all addicted to something. Everyone.

I love Baileys Irish Cream. However, I am not addicted to whiskey. I am not addicted to alcohol. Alcohol does not take my pain away.

But I have found some other things that do when it’s desperately needed.

I sleep to escape reality.

Last week, I bought a new set of pink bed sheets at a high cost. I could have gotten it cheaper somewhere else, but I liked this particular one; the design. I didn’t have to sweat in a noisy market before I could get the one I liked, so it was all worth it. What am I going on about? I love my comfort.

I am allergic to the idea of shaping my life around the opinions of others. So, I do not give a fuck. Pardon the tautology, but, I am who I am. Are there consequences? Of course. Every addiction starts and ends with pain.

Nigerian youths are addicted to social media rants and noise making. We can rant all we want about the judiciary. Morality VS Legality. Yadda Yadda. But you know what? Public opinion does not have a law degree. Win the war on Twitter. Dissipate all your energy there, and leave none for physical protests. The tankers will forever occupy Apapa roads.

The world is slowly getting addicted to supersensitivity. This would not end racism. Your culture will still be appropriated by other people. I would still call you an ass when you act like one.

Addiction is a disease.

There is no addiction without consequences.

This could be addictive.

It could kill you.

But, Time will kill us all.