Do you feel trapped in a life of pain, unhappiness, and addiction? Do you feel like you’ve been leading a dual existence; one that includes a successful career and another that is riddled with addictive behavior? You are not alone and just as Armand Tunyungu’s addiction to movies you can always get a solution and get over it.Tunyungu is a 38-old-year Graphic Designer at Imace Media in Kigali Business Centre. He re-tells his experience with movies. “In 1986, I started watching movies and since then I have never stoppedbeen watching. I used all my free time to watch movies. Today, I’m no longer interested in Television, movies and programs because I feel they are shallow unlike real action movies.” “Sometimes I’m tempted to watch while working, and even fail to meet the deadlines because of watching movies. I have no time for close friends. If someone would pay me to watch movies I’d be glad to work for them,” he said. At an early age, schooling is interfered by movies; marriages can also be affected by this addiction. Movie addiction, can also interfere with your work output. To overcome movie addiction, Joy Ellen Reid, a professional Psychologist from Canada living in Kimironko suggests the following strategies: Find the courage to determine what you need that you’re not getting. List three things that you feel you’re running from in your life. What are you using your addictions to avoid? Get to the heart of the matter. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge. Get real with yourself. Ask the tough questions — and listen closely to your answers. Behave your way to success. Instead of being afraid to be a successful person, learn how to own those positive feelings. Work on how to present yourself on an “even-up” basis with the world. How can you know if you can stand on your own without the crutch of your addiction unless you remove it? Stop running. You can run but you can’t hide. Stop putting your own happiness off until tomorrow. Remember, you don’t ever break a habit. If you want to get rid or reduce the habit of movie watching, you have to replace it with something positive — something that will make you stronger instead of weaker. Work on identifying positive behaviors that would make good replacements for your movie addiction. Entertainment is only good if it is controlled; if uncontrolled it brings harm, and do something about it before it is too late. iruikmo@yahoo.com
