Introduction According to Aristotle, while most of our daily pursuits are engaged in a pursuit of happiness, happiness is frequently pursued simply as an end in itself (cited in Bolt, 2004: 117). However, most people have no idea what happiness is or really how to attain it. This is first because happiness is a very subjective subject, meaning something different to different individuals, and second because the modern world offers so many distractions that are touted as being the path to happiness. In America, for instance, we are taught that happiness can be attained once we have finally acquired a luxury car, a fine house and a stunning wardrobe to show off the tremendous body we’ve maintained with the help of our personal trainer – or some such nonsense. “To fulfill their dreams, Americans claim they need an annual income of $102,000 (Myers, 2000). Moreover, nearly three-quarters of college freshmen consider being ‘very well-off financially’ to be a ‘very important’ or ‘essential’ goal” (Bolt, 2004: 124). However, research into what happiness means, both in terms of research goals and as it personally applies to me, has revealed that few of these things are even capable of registering in the list of considerations, with the possible lone exception of the great body, simply by way of being healthy. Discussion For a small space of time, I engaged in listing out the 33 happiest moments of my life and then grouping these results into categories which revealed themselves as accomplishments, gifts, helping others, family, trips, nature and miscellaneous. The research supports my findings. “According to Van Boven, experiences bring more joy than material goods because they are more open to positive reinterpretations, are a more meaningful part of one’s identity and contribute more to successful social relationships” (2003). Even in those areas that might sound more like a focus on material elements, such as the gifts category, the focus is clearly more on the experience involved rather than the item itself. Perhaps the most materialistic of these thoughts was my dad’s purchase of my first car, a giant ugly machine that provided me with a safe, smooth ride and the ultimate sound system for my riding experience. I hated the car, but loved the experience and the thoughtfulness of my dad in making sure I was comfortable and safe. Trips may seem to be another category full of materialistic aims, but again, my memories are associated more with the way they made me feel about myself and the pleasure I had in experiencing these trips with someone I loved. In remembering these events, I find myself caught a bit uncomfortably between the theories of Kahneman and Seligman (cited in Wallis, 2005). Kahneman says that our memories of our experiences, (our remembering self), are strongly influenced by the highs and lows of the event, particularly in how it ends (the influences on the experiencing self) while Seligman says that our remembering self determines almost on its own what it chooses to focus on. “I think we are our memories more than we are the sum total of our experiences” (Seligman cited in Wallis, 2005). I think it is impossible for us not to be affected by the influences of the moment, yet I think it is also true that we can choose to focus on the positive elements, such as the fun