In the past week I’ve forgotten a dentist appointment, my Netflix password (twice), a friend’s birthday, and my own phone number.
Blame it on my advanced age (early 30s).
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been Mr. Forgetful. Despite my best efforts to be less absentminded over the years—and enough yellow Post-it notes with “IMPORTANT: DON’T FORGET THIS” scribbled on them to blanket a small country—things still slip my mind. Locker combos, directions to friends’ houses, the lyrics to “Happy Birthday”—name it, I forgot it.
What Was I Saying?
I may be an extreme case, but we all wrestle with forgetfulness. Sometimes the consequences are trivial—a phone left behind at a restaurant, an appointment missed. But other times, when we forget things like who we are, why we’re here, the blessings we’ve been given, the potential we have—then things start getting serious. Our spirituality suffers. Our personal growth slows. Lots of unhappiness and unrealized potential stem from our failure to remember.
That’s why the gospel places so much emphasis on remembering, I’m convinced. It’s also why remembrance is at the heart of the Sabbath day’s most important moment, the sacrament, when we promise to “always remember Him.” Not because a selfish God greedily demands all of our thoughts and attention for Himself but because He wants us to be happy, and remembering important truths—and living by them—is key to lasting happiness.
But how can we ever hope to “always remember” when it’s so easy to forget?
I’m still trying to figure that out myself—along with how not to lose my wallet twice a month. More and more, though, in my personal struggle to remember, I’m realizing that the secrets to remembering aren’t so secret at all—they’re the small and simple things we already know about. Even so, we can all use a reminder now and then.
Make the Most of #HisDay
Each week we have a day to regroup, recommit, recharge, and refresh our memory. Sunday, the Sabbath day, is our chance to refocus on the important things we often gradually lose sight of Monday through Saturday, and to remember the Savior. It’s a day to catch our spiritual breath and fill our reserves for the week to come. But it’s up to us to make the most of it.
If we do, we’ll be better able to always remember—not just on Sunday but every day.
Search the Scriptures
You’ve heard the admonition countless times, and for good reason. As Elder Christofferson puts it, “The scriptures enlarge our memory by helping us always to remember the Lord and our relationship to Him and the Father.”
Spend at least a few minutes each day studying the scriptures. Download the Gospel Library app, and take them on the go. What better way to pass a few minutes on the train than a little Matthew 5 or Moroni 7? You can easily mark favorite passages and record insights to remember later, no colored pencils required.
Write to Remember
I live a pretty boring life. If I kept a journal, a typical entry might look something like this:
Got dressed. Went to work. Ate a sandwich. Worked more. Checked phone 100 times. Thought about working out. Binge-watched TV instead. Checked phone 200 times. Bed.
Rinse and repeat. Your life may be 10 times more exciting than mine, but whatever the case, a journal has potential to be much more than a ledger of events. Instead, try recording a spiritual impression that came to you, a sign of God’s hand you noticed, a feeling you experienced. Remembering isn’t merely a function of the head but also of the heart, and recording the things you feel may prove more valuable down the road than a list of events.
You don’t even have to begin each entry “Dear Diary” or even call it a journal. You might simply jot down the occasional impression in the notes app on your phone.