The holidays are supposed to be a time of love, peace on earth, goodwill to all, reflection and hope. For those who believe in the holiday spirit (both holy and human), it’s the time to connect or re-connect with family and friends as well as one’s inner compass. 

But with all the stress and commotion of the season, many of us end up feeling overwhelmed and can become as surly as the storied Scrooge or Grinch. Others can fall helplessly into depression’s troughs. So pervasive is the challenge that you can find essays in popular magazines and Web sites on how get into the holiday spirit. Suggestions range from listening to holiday music and watching holiday movies to decorating and volunteering.

I found holiday spirit in front of the bastion of holiday capitalism — Wal-Mart. How could holiday spirit be alive in front of the very symbolism of what may be wrong with the holidays? I was a Salvation Army bell-ringer.

I started as a bell-ringer eight years ago as a member of the Tracy Rotary Club and contributed for several years. But in recent years, the annual ritual was neglected. This year, learning of a shortage of bell-ringers and attempting to establish holiday spirit within, I recommitted and wound up manning the kettle from 2 to 4 p.m. every Monday at the entrance of the Tracy Wal-Mart. What I discovered way outstripped my perceptions. I simply, perhaps myopically, expected to see people cracking their wallets or digging into their pockets for loose change to drop into the kettle; a selfless giving to help those less fortunate. What I witnessed was holiday spirit’s purest form.

I experienced the holiday spirit my first afternoon when I was gabbing with a man whose acquaintance I had just made. As 4 o’clock approached and passed, I had to leave promptly. My relief person was nowhere to be found; the stress in my voice expressly evident. My newfound angel donned an apron, snatched my bell and said, “Get going. I’ll finish up for you.”

I experienced the holiday spirit when children pulled out their bitty wallets and dropped their valued coins into the kettle unprompted by adults or when parents and grandparents wheeled their toddlers to the kettle and had the youngsters drop in a few coins. What better present than to teach your children the gift and reward of giving.

I experienced the holiday spirit with every penny a child placed in the kettle, along with the wad of cash one woman stuffed in. No gift was too small; no gift too large.

I experienced the holiday spirit when a pack of teenagers came traipsing out the store, raucous, bold and narcissistic as teens can be. One young man looked back, sauntered away to the kettle, pulled a dollar from his pocket and quietly made his deposit.

I experienced the holiday spirit when many people shared that they always gave to The Salvation Army because The Salvation Army had distributed to them in times of need or in their childhood. One woman revealed that she often would not have had Christmas as a child if not for the Salvation Army; hence, she always gave.

I experienced the holiday spirit when a elderly woman came out of the Wal-Mart doors trudging along with a walker and her impatient family wanting to scurry to the car. She shouted out, “Wait, I have to give!”

I experienced the holiday spirit when so many people walked to the kettle — some giving, some not — looked at me and said, “Thank you.”

I experienced the holiday spirit when an elderly woman whom I did not know hugged me and said, “You are wonderful.”

I experienced the holiday spirit as I shivered from the cold and so many people offered to furnish a cup of coffee or inquired if there was anything they could get me.

I experienced the holiday spirit when I saw holiday shoppers pack drum after drum with toys and gifts during the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots drive, highlighted by three truckloads of bicycles from Pacific Medical Supply.

I experienced the holiday spirit being a fly on the wall as a grandmother shared with one of those Marines her grandson’s current tour in Iraq and admired that honorable young man as he intently listened to her every word for nearly 20 minutes. It ended with her giving him the hug I suspect she so badly wanted to give her grandson.

I experienced the holiday spirit seeing men and women shake the hands of those fine young men and children exchanging embraces with the Marines for candy canes. 

I experienced the holiday spirit appreciating so many people, from the young to the elderly, carrying on their lives no matter what their life challenges may be: wheelchairs, crutches, missing limbs, blindness and deafness. They did stop them from living. It’s proof that life is not what is tossed at you but what you do with your turn at bat.

I experienced the holiday spirit as parents ushered young children and children guided older parents.

I experienced the holiday spirit with each Wal-Mart employee’s welcoming smile and the warm greetings from friends, acquaintances and strangers. I valued them sharing their stories or their humanness. I was left wondering if we have to look to the ground as we pass our fellow man.

I experienced the holiday spirit every time fundraiser coordinator Frank DiMenco, who has been involved with The Salvation Army’s Tracy bell-ringing tradition for ages, would check on me and share his passion for this project.

If you question your holiday spirit or are seeking a bit of season’s cheer, consider grabbing a bell and hanging out in front of the local Wal-Mart.

• Paul Healley, a downtown Tracy merchant, re-enlisted as a Salvation Army Red Kettle bell-ringer this year. To volunteer as a bell-ringer, call Frank DiMenco at 513-5180.