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Southwest Virginia has had some strange weather in the weeks leading up to tax day.

On Monday, an old friend was visiting. We walked downtown in 80-degree weather under a blue, blue sky, he appreciatively eyeing the fellows on bikes, me trying to take pictures of the flowering trees with my cellphone. Before he left Blacksburg he gave us an ice scraper/brush tool -- he'd gotten such a good deal on them that he'd bought several. We joked about the budding spring season causing the major markdown on winter's implements.

On Saturday, I was putting it to unexpected use getting an inch of snow off the car. The daffodils, so exuberant last week, now look like they were stomped on.

The weather has been swinging as wildly as human emotions. One day is balmy and beautiful, the next day your apples' blossoms are all freezing in 20-degree weather. We can't do much individually to control the weather, but we can have some impact on our personal state. The April Scientific American has an article on "The Science of Lasting Happiness" that is right on time for spring, a season that sometimes makes it easier to be happy.

Most people seem to have a base level of happiness that they eventually return to, even after very good or bad things happening to them. From studies with twins, it seems that about 50 percent of a person's base level of happiness is genetic and an additional 10 percent is circumstantial. What about that other 40 percent? What makes it positive or negative, and what can we do about it?

Is happiness based on having more money than other people? A survey by Solnicka and Hemenway at Harvard in 1995 found that half of their respondents would rather live in a world in which they make $50,000 than one in which they made $100,000, as long as they were making more than their neighbors.

Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a University of California psychology researcher, hypothesized that happy people wouldn't be as likely to base their happiness on other people's status. She believes that people can "exercise" to increase that 40 percent happiness variable. Increased happiness leads to many rewards -- economic, social and physical.

Lyubomirsky has some specific ways to exercise and strengthen happiness: expressing gratitude, practicing optimism, positive thinking about oneself, appreciating the present, and practicing altruism and kindness. She also points out that people who are less happy tend to "ruminate" more -- they mentally chew over negative experiences. I find myself doing that. I try to respond positively when I catch myself ruminating.

As the Dalai Lama puts it, "Other sentient beings are really the principal source of all our experiences of joy, happiness, and prosperity." He firmly believes that we can change our attitudes by cultivating the thought that other sentient beings are precious and valuable.

The "Love Lab" has done some fascinating research on happiness in couples. It's run by Dr. John Gottman, a University of Washington relationship researcher. He has found that he can quickly and pretty accurately predict a couple's success by several factors gleaned from observation. Is one happy and proud when the other has good fortune and recognition, or is he or she jealous or dismissive? Do they share influence and decision-making power or does one partner dominate the other? Do they express contempt for each other when they fight?

Here are some exercises to increase happiness, synthesized from the several sources I've mentioned. Acknowledge the good things in your life. Don't worry too much about how much other people have. Talk to your friends and loved ones or write in a journal about what is going right. Talk about the best and worst times of your life. Talk about the best possible future you can imagine for yourself. Do nice things without expecting anything in return. Be kind. Cherish the sentient beings around you; they are what make life worthwhile. Celebrate their successes. Listen to them, share power and decision-making with them. When you fight with them, don't be contemptuous. Don't roll your eyes or say cutting things. Be honest. Reach out. And if you are reached out to, don't turn away.

Pris Sears grew up in Florida, lives in Blacksburg and works among Virginia Tech's computers.