FINDING JOY IN THE JOURNEY
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Your weekly dose of inspiration, practical tools, and honest reflections for living a bold, moxie-filled life.
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 I don't normally give years titles, but if I had to give 2025 a title it would be... The Year of the Big Purge It was a year of taking off my favorite set of rose-colored glasses and finally seeing the truth behind people and situations. It was the year that I saw all of the same old family and business behaviors and stories play out in a different light, and it wasn't pretty. It was a tough and exhausting year for me and when December came, I decided to take 3 weeks off for myself to simply rest and reflect. And then last week I had one of those moments that quietly stops you in your tracks. I decided to do laundry and as I walked down the basement steps, I saw... A toad in my basement! For those of you who don't know, I live in northern Illinois where toads hibernate this time of year. So, imagine my surprise when I saw a toad moving around in my basement when it is around 20 degrees outside. I honestly have no idea how he got there. And yet, there he was — very much alive, and very much present. What struck me even more was that he didn’t hide. All morning, as I went up and down the stairs, he seemed to make sure I noticed him. He appeared along the north wall, then moved to the south, then the west, then the east. I couldn’t help but smile at the absurdity and the timing. Because just before that, I had been sitting with a question that’s felt heavy lately... Will I ever be done healing the ancestral family stuff? You know the kind — the drama, the patterns, the stories, the emotional weight that feels inherited rather than chosen. Not in a dramatic or despairing way. More in a tired, honest way. The kind of wondering that comes when you’ve done a lot of inner work and quietly ask, "Is there an endpoint… or is this just how it is?" Watching that toad move through every direction, something softened in me. I realized that the toad had a message for me if I just stopped and observed.
What if the work isn’t about fixing or finishing… but about orienting myself differently inside the story? That moment helped me see something important:
Stopping and observing the toad allowed me to shift the story from... Old - “I’ll never be done. This is endless. I’m responsible for healing it all.” to, New - “I am allowed to pause, orient, and carry only what is mine." It’s a shift into Story Alchemy — where you stop carrying the story and start relating to it differently. And it’s also why I was inspired to create a free Nature's Whispers workbook (based on the Moxie Process) to support moments just like this, when Nature is trying to get your attention, and offer you a different perspective to a problem. The workbook isn’t about predicting meaning or forcing insight. It’s a gentle, grounding space to pause, reflect, and explore meaningful unexpected moments with nature — through curiosity rather than urgency. This workbook is an opportunity to start 2026 connecting with the magic of Nature. You can download the free workbook here: 👉 [Download the free SHINE Reflection Workbook] As for the toad — he didn’t rush. He didn’t demand interpretation. He simply existed, visible from every direction. And that felt like a quiet reminder: Sometimes clarity doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from standing where you are — and trusting that it’s enough. MAGICAL THINGS TO CHECK OUT ORACLE CARD OF THE WEEKDoor Of Possibilities - Embrace Your Inner Power Oracle Deck Exploration. Expansiveness. Curiosity. New Possibilities. Reflection Questions:
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Robin Rosenstiel"Joy in the Journey" is your weekly dose of inspiration, practical tools, and honest reflections for living a bold, moxie-filled life. It’s about embracing every twist and turn on the path to creating a life on your own terms—celebrating the wins, learning from the challenges, and finding joy in the process of becoming your most authentic self Archives
January 2026
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