NEWS4U JANUARY 2022 | OPINION
WHEN LATE NIGHT THOUGHTS ARE
BOURNE
with Freddie Bourne
NEW YEAR, NEW ME = NEW YEAR, NEW HYPOCRISY
In 2019, U.S. News & World Report noted that the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is said to be about 80%, with most
When I was a youth growing up in the wonderful land of New
losing sight of their resolutions by mid-February. Most of us are
Jersey, well known to be home of the exceptional personalities
the majority. And not in a good way. I don’t think we should be
of non-Garden State residents of MTV’s Jersey Shore, New
setting something up so grand and then fall flat on our faces
Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day became quite a tradition of non-
before completely giving up and admitting defeat all together.
stop screaming and making heartfelt promises in the moment - only to fall flat within hour 11 of January 1.
Rather, let’s try not to be specific. Sometimes being broad is more ideal. And let’s get the term “resolution” out of our
One year, I recall a friend of mine saying the following to a
vocabulary and trade it in for something tangible and realistic.
group of us 14-year-olds: ”Bro, let’s just do anything we would
For me, my hope for the year is to achieve happiness in any
regret in the next four hours. When it hits midnight, we start
way shape or form, big or small. I like to pride myself on being
fresh.”
a happy person but I definitely give myself a hard time with things that are beyond my control and I tend to let it fester and
Joke’s on him - he passed out well before the ball dropped and
seep into parts of my life that I could honestly avoid.
the crowds cheered due to the “insane” amount of three vodka shots he took. Pretty sure he did the same thing the following
I know some folks have come to this column for self-help or
year and broke his resolution of not underage drinking. But,
some type of guidance, which I thank you for. But, I’m no expert.
he’s married now with a house - so he’s figured out the game
I deal with the same internal monologues that you all have. And
called life. For now.
yes - I have been incredibly guilty of letting the nothingness of mediocrity stand in my way of seeing what’s really true.
made a resolution and really stuck to it. I don’t think that setting
My life is good. And yours, regardless of circumstances and
one is a bad thing, but rather I prefer not to invest in an idea
history, can be too if we realize that the light in the New Year’s
that I made during the excitement of the end of the year. And
Eve ball in Times Square symbolizes hope.
keep in mind, just because it’s a blank slate for the calendar doesn’t mean the things I dealt with on December 31 all of the sudden disappear.
52 | JANUARY 2022
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We just need to try.
PHOTO: EMILY PELSTON
But, I personally cannot remember the last time that I actually
