Catchy Phrases Decoded

So for years I wondered what those strange bumper stickers were all about. I think at some point in time someone must have told me they were slogans associated with Alcoholics Anonymous, but I never really knew what they meant until my husband started working on his sobriety and I picked up the AA blue book and started learning more about the program and all that goes along with it.

When I had my awakening about codependence and my own special set of "issues" I discovered that the teachings of AA are used for many different programs, including Codependents Anonymous. These slogans became much more important to me when I started applying them to my own special set of circumstances.

Today we will look at the phrase:

"Easy Does It"

I found this explanation online:

Recovery is about changing our attitudes and learning new ways to live. This does not happen overnight. We don't need to demand perfection or punish ourselves for mistakes along the way. It helps to be patient and gentle with ourselves.
We can not rush recovery. Insights and serenity come in their own due time. The Steps make sense when we work through them carefully and methodically. "Easy Does It", reminds us to be gentle with ourselves and not burden ourselves with more than we can handle. We try to approach life in a relaxed manner while taking responsibility for living in the solution. Things have a way of unfolding when we are willing and patient.

There's a lot going on with me right now. Couple that with the fact that we are smack dab in the middle of all the Holiday Madness and I think I'll really try to practice this one this week. In fact, I think most of us could benefit from this one right now.