We used to have a variation on that saying. Easy Does It, But Do It!
I guess it may have been a counter to the fact that the saying is taken so out of context. It comes from The Family Afterward, and it is meant to be applied to the developing relationship between the newly sober alcoholic and his family. Easy does it is very good advice here. Don’t expect too much of the family or the alcoholic, it will take time for the healing to occur.
In the context of the fellowship in my home town it was often used to curb enthusiasm where an individual wants to (say) leap into step 9, when they have not done the earlier work. Easy does it, but do it. First things first , another one fromThe Family Afterward.
More recently it has become a cop out saying. The chap who gets the first three steps, hears something inspiring and wants to get on with the fourth, only been sober a month, his sponsor says “easy does it” there is no hurry. Translated means go away, I don’t know how to take you through this step, or I can’t be bothered. This is definitely not its intended meaning.
Parkinson’s law on procrastination:” Delay is the deadliest form of denial. “ the sad thing is often the denial is not the newcomer’s, it is the sponsor’s.