OK, we all have someone we love to resent. Our Billboard Top 10 List. Our secret someone. Sometimes it’s almost like a love affair, all that time we waste being angry, hurt, seething at that special someone.

We justify it, of course. Claim that we’re right, they’re wrong, and someimtes we go to great lengths rehashing the story with friends, getting them to see our side.

Here’s the secret: nobody wants to hear it. Please don’t share, again, how tough it is, how much you were hurt.

Be like a football player. You’ve got to block that resentment. You’ve got to let it go and move on. Pretend you have the biggest, baddest brutes watching you, standing guard on the corners of your mind. They will stop your resentment from seeping in your brain. Each time you start to replay the scene, the dialogue and how you’re plotting revenge, get those guys to block it. Don’t let the resentment in. It only hurts you. It’s like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies.

As tough as it is, pray for the person you resent. Pray for their health, happiness and prosperity. Pray that they will receive everything you wish for yourself. I don’t know why this works but it helps you grow calmer and more peaceful.

If you can’t do that yet, then at least come up with a nickname for the person so that you laugh when you mention him. My friend Lily who works with a woman named Liz (her resentment of choice) calls her Fizz. McKelly becomes McBelly. You get the idea.

There’s no resentment that’s worth keeping. Check out my post here about Sam’s elderly mother-in-law who still had resentments and grudges from 50 years ago. Do you want to keep spitting into your own spaghetti sauce?