Hi Mary,

The more distant and no contact with them you have, you won’t have to worry about showing facial expressions. But I can certainly understand where you are coming from because I struggled with resentment with people, I came to trust and love, and they hurt me terribly. So, what I did and still do, is when I feel resentment coming on, or thinking about them/the situation, I would feel sorry for them instead. Sorry, that they had had such small hearts. Then after time, the bitterness would leave, and it would just turn to empathy, no contact at all, but forgiveness, but this is a long process. So, please don’t allow these people to let bitterness and poison, resentment fester. Think that they are sleeping soundly, and going about their day peacefully, and you are fuming with resentment. You do not want to live your life this way I am sure.

If you have to walk by them, pretend you are occupied with something, look in your purse for something, look at notes, look down, look in your wallet, cell phone. What I did was put my friends pictures on my bathroom mirror and practice my “pity smile”. That way, if I ever ran across them instead of my heart pounding like crazy, and resentment, I would look in their face just like I looked at their picture on the bathroom mirror and give them the brief “pity smile/smirk” and keep walking. Just avoid them at all costs so you can let the sunshine in.