Forgetfulness, Forgetting

The pastor James Moore of Houston tells about an elderly man who spoke at a banquet. With a broad grin and twinkle in his eye, he said, "I know I'm old because there are three things I can't remember: I can't remember names, I can't remember faces, and I can't remember the third thing I can't remember."
Forgetfulness is not all bad. Without it the pain of our failures and losses would be almost unbearable. Here are some things we need to forget: to tell someone 'I told you so'; the excuses for our failures; the sins that have been confessed and forgiven; past failures whose lessons have been learned; all jokes that put down other people; and the times we have been neglected or mistreated. Life is so much happier when we forget what we should. (Bill Bouknight, "Just a Thought")