Do Our Mornings Matter?27We do it by living with wild, exceptional excellence in the
small things, remembering that the habits we foster and the
character we build along the way are the heart of our greatest
triumphs.
Jessica didn’t buy a sailboat one weekend and say, “See
ya!” to her mom and dad.
Katie didn’t grab a last- minute flight to Uganda with name
tags for thirteen kids.
The Hoyts didn’t attend a triathlon and just jump in on
the fun.
There is a backstory. Practicing and packing. Preparing
and praying. Failing and trying again. And again. And again.
They invested countless hours in boring moments no one saw.
The exceptional life is the tip of the iceberg. It’s easy to look
at people we admire and think that they simply have it all
together or that they have something we don’t. In reality, they
simply try and try again. Their success is built on the founda-
tion of faithfulness.
Mother Teresa is a beautiful example of this truth. She
undoubtedly lived an exceptional life, but it wasn’t marked by
any one big thing she did. We know her because of her wild
obedience to the small things. The lepers. The children. The
poor. The people everyone else saw but walked right by.
Small, simple things make the big things possible. So regard-
less of your season or situation, don’t be afraid to dream big and
start now. Live with wild, exceptional excellence in the small
things; they are the very foundation of grand adventures.
You see, living an exceptional life isn’t just an opportu-
nity that comes along once in a lifetime. It’s an invitation that
awaits us every single day. Every single morning.