DEVIL'S ADVOCATE: Be Forgetful

'I forgot' goes so far as an excuse, it could easily last a lifetime. And in these enlightened times, it could even give one the aura of an absent-minded genius whose mind is so focused on things eternal and profound that it has neither the time nor the inclination to attend to mundane matters. Nevertheless, such minds somehow find it within themselves to be focused when it comes to money, especially when it's theirs.They're very unforgiving if their organisation forgets to give them their raise at the appointed month, or the accounts department fails to transfer their salaries at the right time. Actually, such selective memories are born during childhood. But most parents and teachers are so tolerant of a child's forgetfulness that our forgetful friends realise the benefits of this strategy early on. Later, they become emboldened enough to invoke the two-word mantra whenever their latent laziness and inherent incompetence overcomes their half-hearted desire to do an honest day's work. Of course, any attempt to change this state of forgetfulness is met with stiff stubbornness.
The first defence of these Forgetful Faridas is that brain memory is finite, precious and needs to be conserved for the really important things in life, like the nine seasons of The X-Files with the movie thrown in for good measure. Or what every friend said to whom and in what context. But how about remembering some critical task for the day? Oh, they've run out of memory, so someone else will have to take care of it. The second line of defence is that forgetting things is good for the soul. It cleanses your soul from being burdened with the pressures of day-to-day tasks and leaves you free to dwell upon the higher planes of thought and inner peace. Isn't that what we're all looking for, anyway? We don't forget that, do we?
The trick is to be so forgetful that soon everyone around you recognises your mastery over it and tries very hard not to give you too many things to remember. There's almost admiration as they hail you for your ability to forget. And that's when you know you've arrived. There's nothing extra to remember, except the fact that you're supposed to be forgetful. But having practised it for a while, that shouldn't be difficult.