Mark Katrick: A step-by-step guide to staying awake until the New Year's ball drops

Mark Katrick
·2 min read
Mark Katrick
Mark Katrick

Get out your party hats and noisemakers. It’s New Year’s Eve!

Are you planning on staying awake to watch the ball drop? It’s been so many years for me that I’ve lost count. Sometimes I’ve come agonizingly close, ZZZZZ-ing out at 11:57 or :58. This year, I’m going to tape a big sign to my recliner chair that says, OUT OF ORDER!

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Then I’ll proceed to attach these helpful suggestions from wikihow.com to my refrigerator with a magnet:

  1. Drink or eat something with caffeine, like coffee, soda or dark chocolate. (Since I don’t drink coffee or eat chocolate, I’ll probably have a Cherry Coke.)

  2. Change your body temperature with a splash of water or shower. (Maybe I’ll relive my high school gym class days by making it a cold shower.)

  3. Flip on light switches. (Since I don’t like to sleep in the dark, I already do that.)

  4. Listen to music. (I already do that, too, and have Sirius on most every night.)

  5. Get some fresh air. (Perhaps I’ll get out the space heater and open a window on the front porch.)

  6. Enjoy a film. (There must be some Hallmark movie or the other I haven’t seen.)

  7. Eat nutritious, vitamin-rich foods throughout the day. (That means put away the Christmas cookies, and get out the cheese cubes and mixed nuts.)

  8. Get a full eight hours of sleep the night before. (Four or five is the max for me; I nap in my recliner. Maybe I should keep the OUT OF ORDER sign on it the entire week before.)

Of course, I could always dump the entire bin of cat toys on the floor at 10 p.m. Then, come midnight, we’ll all be sawing logs.

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This year, to keep awake physically and emotionally, I’m planning to stay awake spiritually. This means reading and reflecting, praying and contemplating, with quiet reflection in between.

Then, around 11 p.m., I’ll get out my fully charged cellphone and call family and friends up until 11:58 or :59. And then, to make 100% sure I won’t nod off in these last two minutes, I’ll put on my party hat, get out my noisemaker and say, “Thank you, Jesus, for this brand new year, with all its hopes and possibilities and for promising to walk beside me every day, hour and minute of it.

Mark Katrick is a pastor and spiritual guide.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mark Katrick faith column: How to stay up for the New Year's ball drop