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Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations for Men
In the quest for sustained sobriety and self-development, we must look outside of ourselves to discover our inner truths. Whether we are facing dependency or parenthood, marriage or meditation, everyone needs a guide to embolden their coping skills and settle in to a better, more balanced life.Touchstones has strengthened millions of recoveries for more than thirty years. Offering suggestions for deepening integrity, spirituality, and intimacy—a recovering man’s trinity—it helps men transform addictive behaviors and thinking into an empowered manhood. This engaging self-help book, designed specifically for men, explores masculinity through informative, inspirational meditations. Touchstones offers profound advice for life’s many changes and emphasizes the importance of recognizing the effects of common emotions such as anger, resentment, and fear. Its striking insight supports any stage of recovery, but the daily readings in this book are not simply for a better recovery; they are for a better, more balanced life. Continued awareness and involvement with these ideas provide ongoing personal growth. Although this growth is entirely our own, its benefits will be shared. Newfound mental health and wellness will spread infectiously to every relationship, with friends and family alike. Here, every manly struggle meets an insight. The cycle of addiction meets its end.
393 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1986
About the author
Anonymous
3,417 followersBooks can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 2, 2025
This book was supposed to be read one page a day, but I ended up reading three to five pages a day. Nonetheless, it's refreshing to read something positive that also points out my shortcomings and offers different perspectives.
I also listed numerous quotes within this book:
Loneliness and solitude are very different things. When we’re lonely, we feel sad about being alone. But when we're in solitude, we have ourselves and can be at peace.
Our dilemma is that growth is a risk, too. If we avoid all risk, we become stagnant . . . [N]ot all task taking is as self-destructive as it was in our pasts.
My perspective gets skewed by the intensity of the immediate situation, or my denial blinds me.
When we see how far we strayed from the kind of men we wanted to be, we are overwhelmed by how far we have to go to get back on the track.
Each man is actually a process. We are not things, but events — happenings, and the events are still unfolding.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.
— Italian Proverb
The other side of communication is listening.
We don't learn from correctly doing the same thing repeatedly. We learn from trying new things and making mistakes.
The change that is needed for me to heal will come from within me. I will not put my happiness in another’s hands. More than revenge, we want a life worth living.
We can’t make a lasting love appear for us in command — we can become ready for such a relationship when the opportunities appear.
Some people turn away from growth because they refuse to tolerate the pain of honest hindsight . . . We take a bow to the past and move on to live in the only place we can—the present . . . We can't change the past, but we can learn from it. Healthy recovery means an ever-lighter load of regrets.
Throughout our lives, we repeatedly make attachments and lose them. We are taken with the rich color of leaves in the fall, but we know that this beauty will soon be replaced with stark, empty branches . . . We want to . . . say, “. . . If I can't have permanence, I'll take nothing at all!” . . . Loss and death itself are part of life. There is peace in accepting and living fully in the cycle of seasons.
The cost of wearing a mask is not getting a chance to develop our real personalities.
Shared joy is double joy, and shared sorrow is half-sorrow. —Swedish Proverb
Refreshment doesn’t solve a problem, but it can revitalize our thinking.
Maybe we have been deducted by the power of looking good and have traded away the genuineness.
When a man clings too tightly to the status quo or tries to control the direction of change, he is bound to be disappointed. We are like skiers on a mountain. We must continue down the slope. We can vary our speed somewhat, but if we stop for too long, we will get cold or hungry; if we ski too fast, we may have a serious fall.
Part of the pleasure is not being able to control or predict every circumstance we will meet.
[C]hange is a basic fact of life. We must empty a glass before we can fill it with something else.
Time heals our wounds. It teaches lessons that cannot be learned I a day. It allows truths to rise to the surface that first week difficult to see . . . [O]ur needs are often filled simoly by waiting.
We are learning that being genuine is far more fulfilling than being great.
[H]ave we learned to stand up for our right to have feelings? . . . [T]o be learners and to make mistakes?
Being alive is to be actively engaged in knowing and loving my questions even when I find no answer.
Feeling happy is a by-product of other life experiences. Happiness comes and goes. We welcome it but cannot capture and hold it, nor can we create a recipe for achieving happiness.
I also listed numerous quotes within this book:
Loneliness and solitude are very different things. When we’re lonely, we feel sad about being alone. But when we're in solitude, we have ourselves and can be at peace.
Our dilemma is that growth is a risk, too. If we avoid all risk, we become stagnant . . . [N]ot all task taking is as self-destructive as it was in our pasts.
My perspective gets skewed by the intensity of the immediate situation, or my denial blinds me.
When we see how far we strayed from the kind of men we wanted to be, we are overwhelmed by how far we have to go to get back on the track.
Each man is actually a process. We are not things, but events — happenings, and the events are still unfolding.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.
— Italian Proverb
The other side of communication is listening.
We don't learn from correctly doing the same thing repeatedly. We learn from trying new things and making mistakes.
The change that is needed for me to heal will come from within me. I will not put my happiness in another’s hands. More than revenge, we want a life worth living.
We can’t make a lasting love appear for us in command — we can become ready for such a relationship when the opportunities appear.
Some people turn away from growth because they refuse to tolerate the pain of honest hindsight . . . We take a bow to the past and move on to live in the only place we can—the present . . . We can't change the past, but we can learn from it. Healthy recovery means an ever-lighter load of regrets.
Throughout our lives, we repeatedly make attachments and lose them. We are taken with the rich color of leaves in the fall, but we know that this beauty will soon be replaced with stark, empty branches . . . We want to . . . say, “. . . If I can't have permanence, I'll take nothing at all!” . . . Loss and death itself are part of life. There is peace in accepting and living fully in the cycle of seasons.
The cost of wearing a mask is not getting a chance to develop our real personalities.
Shared joy is double joy, and shared sorrow is half-sorrow. —Swedish Proverb
Refreshment doesn’t solve a problem, but it can revitalize our thinking.
Maybe we have been deducted by the power of looking good and have traded away the genuineness.
When a man clings too tightly to the status quo or tries to control the direction of change, he is bound to be disappointed. We are like skiers on a mountain. We must continue down the slope. We can vary our speed somewhat, but if we stop for too long, we will get cold or hungry; if we ski too fast, we may have a serious fall.
Part of the pleasure is not being able to control or predict every circumstance we will meet.
[C]hange is a basic fact of life. We must empty a glass before we can fill it with something else.
Time heals our wounds. It teaches lessons that cannot be learned I a day. It allows truths to rise to the surface that first week difficult to see . . . [O]ur needs are often filled simoly by waiting.
We are learning that being genuine is far more fulfilling than being great.
[H]ave we learned to stand up for our right to have feelings? . . . [T]o be learners and to make mistakes?
Being alive is to be actively engaged in knowing and loving my questions even when I find no answer.
Feeling happy is a by-product of other life experiences. Happiness comes and goes. We welcome it but cannot capture and hold it, nor can we create a recipe for achieving happiness.
December 31, 2023
Great Daily Devotional for Recovering Men!
Insightful and practical messages and reminders for me in my daily routine for my recovery program. Has helped me tremendously for years now!
Insightful and practical messages and reminders for me in my daily routine for my recovery program. Has helped me tremendously for years now!
September 6, 2013
Second Edition, 1991
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews