Getting older can mean some changes to the way you remember. Remember where you left your car keys or your glasses; remember appointments or even what day of the week it is. As this begins to happen you work out strategies to help you manage  these incidents.

The house and car keys are to be kept in the front door lock, preferably on the inside. If they are not there you know that you first need to check the other side of the front door. The keys you left there as you opened the door and made a mad rush to the bathroom.

You keep less on your bench tops – that way it’s easier to spot an errant set of keys. No luck on the bench tops? Then try the fridge.”Oh yes” I hear you say. “I was holding my keys when I put the brie in the fridge.” And there my keys are sitting smugly on top of the brie.

Post it pads and pens are now positioned beside every communication device, my landline, my computer and its pile of emails and my mobile phone; ready  for me to write down all appointments, meetings and coffees.

“You still have a landline!” I hear you exclaim in horror. Yes, I do, although I have to admit I love talking on a phone, an important function of my landline these days is in locating my mobile phone. I ring my mobile, then I tear around the house listening for its persistent ring. That works a treat, unless of course my mobile is turned off. During these periods I have bouts of looking for this small vital communication tool. Then, out of the blue I find it staring at me, from the car seat, the sofa or a bookshelf.

All of this is inconvenient and often annoying;  never writing things down before because I always remembered.  But you just adapt and make small changes. So, what’s the silver lining? Or is there even a silver lining? Yes, definitely.

There are some very important things to forget. You may have already mastered this, but if not now’s the time. It’s time to forget and let go of the hurts and the bruises you’ve experienced from others. It’s time to let go of old resentments – it’s time to forgive and move on. To me this is the real art of forgetting. Forgetting, forgiving and moving on seem to be the most important part of forgetting. I’m sure there are now Apps for all the other types of forgetting.

Have you mastered the real art of forgetting?