Stevie Wonder- Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing
I wasn’t sure which song I wanted to reflect on this month, but like most things, inspiration found me through a conversation with friends. We were talking about gratitude..about the realization that we’re actually living in the very prayers we once verbalized. In the middle of texting them my thoughts, I opened TikTok and heard someone singing Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry About a Thing”. That’s when it clicked. The lyrics perfectly capture this idea. A song of reassurance that’s both deeply spiritual and an undeniable bop.
The song is very upbeat but starts off swinging with an irrefutable truth, “Everybody’s got a thing but some don’t know how to handle it”. Everybody has a purpose and a burden. Everybody doesn’t know how to navigate it without losing themselves though. We feel so pressured to get through things that we confuse it with our purpose. It’s a tricky spot to be in because it would mean releasing control (a message for myself). We want to control things so much so that we miss the beauty in the journey. Also be reminded that you don’t go through this alone. Your trials and your gifts aren’t “things” you have to experience and understand alone.
Stevie starts telling our business forreal when he says, “Always reaching out in vain, accepting the things not worth having”. The love is draining, the validation doesn’t last, and the goals don’t even align with what you really want because instead of focusing on the now we’re skipping steps because we want to get ahead. With anything ,we have to have balance, and this is a clear imbalance. I’m not saying we shouldn’t put in the work, but there has to be a healthy balance between effort, trust, and allowing. Give your prayers time to manifest instead of trying to force outcomes on your own timeline. It never sticks that way… and trust me, that’s coming from a very self-aware, slightly neurotic, recovering control freak writing this lol.
We see the divine reassurance in “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing mama. Cause I’ll be standing on the side when you check it out”. God is simply telling us to go ahead and explore because he’ll still be right there. He never left because he’s been inside of us the whole time! We can’t avoid hardships..as much as I don’t understand it, I know that it is an unavoidable thing. I take solace in knowing I’m always supported because the divine never left. If you are more religious than spiritual then you would view it as God’s grace. We beat ourselves up when things don’t work out or we think we’ve strayed too far from our path because we were looking for something more and the presence of God never actually left you baby!
“Don’t you worry about a thing”. Have you ever heard the phrase “a watched pot never boils or won’t make the water boil any faster?”.Worry doesn’t speed the blessing up. While you’re worrying about how get to the next big thing you should revel in the fact that you’re sitting in something that you prayed for that was once the “big thing” too. Relax into the now. What you’re looking for is right in your face.
…I want to reiterate this one more time for the hard headed people like myself. You don’t have to figure it out right now. Breathe for a second, for me please? I need you to show up in faith and gratitude right now. Your transition is personal and I know that everyone doesn’t witness your silent battles but you’re being guided and you don’t even know it. Please know that you’re being guided in every step, even the uncertain ones. Now go listen to Stevie and tell me what you think :
Listen to Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing
