Parties and dinners are on tap for New Year’s Eve, as they should be, to ring in 2020 with a toast, a dance a noisemaker and a boilermaker. But the real test is what one can muster the next day. In particular, will one be able to answer the call of the New Year’s Day polar plunge?

It is a popular tradition on-Island to toss off the winter wear and don bathing suits for a dip in the ocean, a moment to propel one all year long into doing what does not come natural, to living out of the ordinary and embracing discomfort.

Try it, you will like it.

Popular spots include Lambert’s Cove Beach and Inkwell Beach where generations gather to run into the water, often holding hands — either as a sign of solidarity or questioning one’s conviction.

And last Jan. 1 a new tradition was born — the 5K polar plunge at Long Point Beach. It’s brilliant, really, working up a sweat before taking an icy bath. The event is brought to you by the West Tisbury School as a fundraiser for their scholarship fund. They call it Freezing for a Reason.

The run begins at 10 a.m. and the swim immediately after. To sign up, register at runsignup.com/race/ma/westtisbury,freezinforareason5kandpolarplunge.

Happy New Year. May it be one where yes far outweighs no.