“Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work. If you’re focusing on the glass ceiling, focusing on what you don’t have, focusing on the limitations, then you will be limited” - Ava DuVernay.
I believe this quote is true whether from the world's perspective or a biblical perspective. Truth is truth. I choose to filter everything through the Word of God. From a biblical perspective, I am not supposed to look to the right or to the left. Only to the Cross focusing on who I am against who God is. Looking up instead of all around. Yes, my neck gets tired. Sometimes it starts to hurt. But I am convinced that I need to focus on attracting God’s gaze instead of gazing at this world. I was not created to compare myself to other girls. Theodore Roosevelt said, "Comparison is the Thief of joy," and Mark Twain wrote, "Comparison is the death of joy." There will always be prettier, skinner, taller, smarter, or more popular girls in my life. There will always be women who are promoted while I am overlooked. Women who are asked to move up even when I think I am the more capable option. Does this mean I quit? Does this mean I am limited somehow? Does this mean I grumble? No. I am fearfully and wonderfully made (short) and because God can be trusted and because God is all knowing and all present, and because God does not make mistakes because He is loving and perfect, even in my temporary, flawed shell of a body, I will trust and be content. When I choose to pout and compare myself to others, that is when I am limited. On the other hand, when I choose gratitude and thank the Lord for the many blessings He bestows upon me, for my family, for the opportunities I can take advantage of, for the valuable lessons I can learn through the disappointments and hurts, that is when the glass ceiling breaks. I do not have to focus on my limitations. I have the power to choose what I focus on. “Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work.” Ignore the praise. Ignore the criticism. Because if you are elevated by one you will surely be defeated by the other. Ignore the unfairness. Do my work. But then I have a choice while working. Should I work half-heartily, lazily? Working with an attitude that says I will never be noticed or set apart so why give it my all? Why work hard when I am not seen? Why put this effort in when it won’t change anything? That also becomes a limitation. That too tells me I am focusing on the glass ceiling. Indeed, one way to limit my limitations is to work with a spirit of excellence as working unto God and not unto man. The Lord requires much from him who has been given much. How can the Lord trust me with more responsibility if I work half-heartedly with the task I have already been given, whatever it may be? Oswald Chambers said, “We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life—those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.”