People are drawn to the easy and to the easiest side of the easy.
— Rainer Maria Rilke
"Easy does it" is a core principle of the recovery movement.
It's also my motto for the new year.
The author of Alcoholics Anonymous borrowed the slogan from the Oxford Group, a Christian fellowship that owed much to Jesus' advice in the Sermon on the Mount: "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of itself."
Jesus' advice was also central to the teachings of Emmet Fox, a Depression-era leader of the New Thought Movement and an AA guru. Fox interpreted Jesus' advice as follows:
"Try not to be tense or hurried.
"If you try to unlock a door hurriedly, the key is apt to stick, whereas, if you do it slowly, it seldom does.
"If the key sticks, stop pressing. To push hard with will power can only jam the lock completely.
"So it is with mental working. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."
In other words, easy does it.
Happy New Year!
