I'm trying to get into the Holiday Spirit, but this year after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, that jolly joy that would usually blow over the island seems to have been blown away by the hurricane along with many people's possessions.

In the tourism industry we're trained from early on to always greet and serve with a smile — even when things aren't okay.

And here's what I've learned: that smile we put on for guests, it actually helps us too. It lifts our own spirits while we're pushing through.

That's something every Jamaican on the island and off island can use right now. There must be something you can find to smile about. Sometimes smiling through the struggle accelerates the rebuilding process as we rebuild Jamaica a little at a time.