Donna Checketts, Laie Hawaii Young Single Adult 2nd Stake Relief Society President and her daughter Shayla Smith, spoke on the importance of maintaining an eternal perspective in their devotional address “Don’t Give Up What You Want Most, For What You Want Now,” on Tuesday, July 24.
The pair shared the story of the Olympian champion Roger Bannister and his struggle to achieve success. “Many years ago [Roger Bannister] participated in the Olympic Games as a champion in the one-mile race,” Smith began. “He was supposed to win, but he wound up finishing in fourth place. He went home from the Olympics discouraged, disillusioned, and embarrassed… he had his mind set on giving up running… He went to his coach and told him, ‘Coach, I’m through. I’m going to devote all my time to studying.’ His coach said, ‘Roger, I think you are the man who can break the four-minute mile. I wish you’d give it one last try before you quit.’” After a rigorous training schedule and many sleepless nights Roger was prepared to take on the four minuet mile. “On May 6, 1954, the four-minute-mile barrier was broken by Roger Bannister, a man committed to a winning pattern which would bring him recognition worldwide… Roger Bannister set the pattern many years ago and followed it with total commitment, self-discipline, and a will of iron,” said Checketts.
Checketts continued by sharing the importance of setting goals and following through with them. She told of her husband, Max Checketts, Academic Vice President at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, and his intense desire to receive his PhD. “When Shayla was just a baby I remember sitting on our front porch talking about our future. Max told me some interesting things that he wanted to accomplish in his life, one of them being he wanted to earn a PhD. Education wasn’t a priority in the family I grew up in, so I thought getting a doctorate was a pretty lofty goal. 12 years and six children later, he earned his PhD from Utah State University. It was a long road with a lot of bumps, but he never gave up. He became Dr. Max Checketts.” Even lofty goals can be met, so long as worldly, temporal distractions do not intervene with the eternal perspective.
Smith advised that we have a firm foundation on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in order to achieve our greatest goals in life.
In closing, Checketts shared a quote from President N. Eldon Tanner saying, “The greatest achievement in life is not the acquisition of money, position, or power. In my opinion, it is to come to the end of one’s day having been true and loyal to his ideals. I can think of no achievement greater than that.”
See the complete Devotional address from July 24, 2013.
University Devotionals are held each Tuesday at 11 AM in the Cannon Activities Center. Previous Devotionals can be viewed at devotionals.byuh.edu.