‘Right Now, I’m Folding Napkins’

The Christmas / New Year break brings quiet. And sometimes, that quiet gets loud.

When the busyness stops, the questions rush in: Am I on the right path? Why hasn’t this happened yet? When will I feel like I’m achieving something?

Even surrounded by family and close friends this year, I felt it – those anxious, paralysing moments when you don’t quite know what the next best step should be.

It reminded me of a small moment early in my career that’s guided me more times than I can count. I was working in hospitality, trying to break into design. Late one night, stuck in a back-end airport hotel restaurant wearing a truly awful orange uniform, I was folding napkins, frustrated, restless, and convinced I should be doing something “better” with my life.

And then a simple thought landed: Right now, I am folding napkins. I won’t always be folding napkins. But right now, this is my reality.

That job later gave me the chance to showcase my creative skills. One opportunity led to another. Months later, I was working in hotel marketing for a global brand – a career chapter that lasted several years.

What stayed with me wasn’t the job, but the surrender. Letting the moment be what it was; unglamorous, temporary, and necessary, brought peace instead of resistance. From there, I could see a way forward.

So if the quiet has stirred up anxiety for you too, try naming where you are right now. No future projection. No grieving the past. Just a clear statement of the present, something you can surrender to rather than fight.

And if you’re not where you want to be yet, trust this: you’ve probably already planted seeds that will bear fruit sooner than you think.

None of us are folding napkins forever.