Think of a time when you felt that life was miraculous ? watching early-morning light fill a mountain valley, holding your newborn baby in your arms for the first time, or maybe looking up into the vast night sky ablaze with stars. Every one of us has had at least one moment when our appreciation for life was so intense, it became awe. It's at those times, when you feel both humbled and exalted, that you know you're plugged in to Spirit. Living from that place of wonder and joy is one of the keys to living a truly happy life.

In interviewing 100 unconditionally happy people for my book, Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out, I discovered that they all seem to share a deep connection with Spirit. It doesn't matter what you call it ? Spirit, Higher Power, Universal Source, Creative Intelligence, the Unified Field, Nature, or God ? we're talking about the same thing. Plugging in to Spirit is the experience of feeling connected to an energy bigger than yourself. The more deeply you experience that connection, the richer and more joyful your life feels.

Fortunately, there are many ways to cultivate a connection to a Higher Power. You can learn a formal meditation practice; you can take a walk and be in Nature; you can sit in silence, listen to inspiring music, or use prayer to open the lines of communication with a power greater than yourself. It doesn't matter which you pick, as long as it works for you and you do it regularly.

Even just 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference. When you feel stronger, happier, and more centered, it benefits everyone in your life ? especially you.

I experienced this as a teenager when I learned to meditate. Over the years, my meditation practice has quieted my mind and helped me connect to what I feel is my source and innermost essence, that state of pure Truth and Love.

I love this beautiful story about how meditation works: A wise teacher, instructing his students to meditate, told them, "The process is like filling a sieve with water." All of the students were confused by this statement. How it was possible to fill a sieve with water? Some thought it meant meditation was very difficult, and others thought it meant they could only expect temporary gains from their practice. Discouraged, they stopped meditating. One student, however, approached the teacher and asked him to explain.

The teacher took the student to the edge of the ocean, gave him a sieve and told him to try to fill it with water. The student scooped the water into the sieve but it immediately ran out. The teacher took the sieve from the student and said, "I will show you how." The teacher threw the sieve into the water, where it sank almost immediately. He told the student, "The sieve is full of water now and will stay that way forever. Meditation works the same way. It's not about scooping small amounts of Spirit into your individual life, but about dropping yourself into the ocean of Spirit and merging with that Spirit more and more each day."

When you merge with Spirit and experience that the beauty of life around you is inside you as well, your life takes on another dimension. You don't settle for just getting by in life, just going through the motions. Everything ? your drive to work, your evening meal, your conversation with a friend, even your reaction to a piece of bad news ? becomes permeated with a sense of grace and the inner peace and well-being that are the hallmarks of Happy for No Reason.