My B.S. Meter has been ringing like crazy the past couple of weeks. Being sick changed the way I look at my life and made me think more about truly caring for me—inside, outside, and in the middle—and I realized that I let a lot of people influence the way I feel about myself. Now, I just don’t have a tolerance for people’s rhetoric. Whether it’s to cover up their own insecurities or … actually, that’s what I’m beginning to think all B.S. is. People puff themselves up or tear you down or talk and talk and talk and talk or gossip galore because they want to distract you from what’s underneath. And even more key, they want to distract themselves from what’s underneath. People living authentically don’t feed you B.S. They don’t need to.

And I’m in an authentic mode right now. I don’t want to spend my weekends working in a mad frenzy to please other people. I don’t want to go home unhappy from the day I’ve had at work. I don’t want to be scared of what people think. I don’t want to worry that I’ve inadvertently offended someone. I don’t want to take on other people’s opinions of me. I want to live, authentically, as myself. I don’t care if you like my work or you don’t. I don’t care if you like me or you don’t. I’m me, and I’m going to like me.

And you know what? Since I’ve set my tolerance for B.S. a lot lower, I’ve been a lot happier. I’m frustrated more but I’m anxious less. I’m less prepared but I’m relaxed more. Secret Thirty-Seven, Revealed. And I don’t see any real reason to go back. B.T.B.S., Beyond The Bullshit.