I like hitting the bookstores in my area often. One of my favorite sections is, of course, self-improvement. These days, I’ve noticed a lot of books on the subject of happiness: what is it, how to get it, and how to keep it. Even the idea that happiness is a myth.

But is it a myth?

My belief is that the idea of happiness as a constant state of being may be the myth. Happiness comes and goes, as all things, because it is temporary and fleeting–especially when we look for it externally through people, things, and conditions.

But there are ways you can keep the state of happiness around you longer, make it stronger, and experience it more regularly and consistently. Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, who authored The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want (one of those books on happiness I discovered in the self-improvement section in the bookstore), has found, through her own research and study, that happiness may not be as elusive as some of us might think.

According to several of her studies, Lyubomirsky found that an easy way to boost our mood is to focus on the daily events that make us happy. For some, that could come from interactions with cheery clerks and cashiers in the grocery store; for others, it might be engaging with an outgoing server at a restaurant (this is one of my favorites, as I always feel the server really likes his or her job–and I enjoy being around people who are happy at work); and for others still, it might be arriving at just the right moment to catch that bus or train, the one you were thisclose to missing.

To become more aware of these moments in your life, Lyubomirsky, and other experts (myself included) encourage noting them in a gratitude journal. Keeping a journal like this enables you to reflect on the moment you had again as you write it down. It doesn’t have to be terribly complicated; just a few sentences about what you’re grateful for can start increasing your happiness levels, according to the research. Some of the subjects in those studies who expressed feelings of gratitude just once a week got a boost. If that could happen from doing it just once a week, imagine what could happen if you did it every day!

So, c’mon, get happy–by tapping into what you are grateful for!

Your partner in tapping your gratitude,

(Reference: Cassity, Jessica. (2011). Better Each Day. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.)