I found these sage words of advice on a page for people recovering from alcoholism. Whether you are dealing with an addiction or just need to let go of some dead weight that’s been holding you back for a long time, these words apply. Resentment can be a needless burden we carry around for years, decades…even a lifetime.

Isn’t it time to get your life back?

1. Approach resentment as the addictive state of mind it is.

2. Realize that you are using resentment to replicate your family drama and maintain a connection with those dramas, a necessary acknowledgment before you can let them go.

3. Examine how your resentment may come from mentally confusing people in your present life with people in your past.

4. Acknowledge that you cannot control those who have rejected you.

5. Recognize that your resentment give you only illusions of strength. Instead, highlight and validate your real strength and power.

6. Learn to identify the signals that provoke resentment.

7. Practice cognitive behavioral techniques to stop indulging in resentment. Put a thought between your feelings of resentment and indulging in ruminating about them.

8. Acknowledge your part in allowing the abuse to occur, forgive yourself for that, and make a decision to not let it occur again.

9. Declare an amnesty - with your family and with yourself.

10. Forgive when you can, and practice willful and deliberate forgetfulness when you cannot, keeping in mind that these acts are gifts to yourself rather than capitulation to those whom you resent.

Source: The Sober Recovery Network