Addiction is seen in the legal world that's some kind of a choice somebody makes.

Believe me, I worked with hardcore addicted people.

Nobody ever chose to be an addict.

I've had my own addictive issues.

I've never chose to be it. I didn't choose it. Hi, Maryam Williamson here and welcome to this week's podcast.

You know, I began lecturing on a course in miracles back in 1983, and the world in many ways was quite different then, but many things were very much the same.

And one of the things that became a very big issue in the middle of the 1980s was the AIDS crisis.

And because I was giving lectures about miracles and spirituality, I had a lot of experience very up close and personal with people who were

suffering through that crisis. But there was another issue that I came up close and personal

with during that time because of all the people who came to the Course of Miracles lectures

and who were reading the Course in Miracles who were involved with it. And that was people

with a 12-step program issues.

Also in my own life, dating someone who was an addict for quite a while,

even though at the time I thought, because of his involvement with AA,

with NA actually, I didn't realize he was still using.

But in my own life, two years living with an active heroin addict, although like I said at the time I didn't realize he was still using. But in my own life, two years living with an active heroin addict, although like I said

at the time I didn't realize he was active, definitely puts you in a situation where you have

a lot of understanding, where you have a lot of experience of some of the trauma that is involved

there, not only for the addict, but also for the people who are

around him or her. So I had a lot of exposure to 12-set programs. Certainly went to my own share

of Al-Anon meetings, which were very, very helpful to me. And I came to have a deeper understanding

that addiction applies to a lot of things, not just substance abuse. You might not be an alcoholic,

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