Sometimes I wonder why I even bother.

I've been ripped off, cut off, flipped off — and yet I do it.

I get over it.

Oh, sure, after a few expletives. But in the end, I shrug it off. Or I forget about it. Anger doesn't stick to me for very long.

Sometimes that's a good thing. Like how I can have the worst day at work and still bounce into the office the next day with ambitious plans for lunch. (And not even on a payday!)

I've been told I forgive and forget too quickly. Friends have betrayed me, boyfriends have lied. But why harbor a grudge that's only going to hurt me? I mean, I doubt the salesgirl who tried to sell me wide-hip jeans is losing any sleep.

Being angry and staying angry are two different things.

Yes, I get annoyed when an oversized truck takes up two stalls outside Longs on a Sunday morning. But it's not going to ruin my day. I'm not going to call every one of my girlfriends — maybe just my mother — to rant about this inconsiderate, thoughtless, selfish society. I'll find another stall — maybe scowl at the truck as I walk past — then forget about it. It's not worth the extra effort.

It's not that I'm totally, insanely happy. There are, of course, things I'll always want that I think would make me happier, more fulfilled, complete. I want a house with a big yard. I want to spend a year in New Zealand. I want to beat my brother at golf — or at anything, really.

But I figure life will always be riddled with holes we think need filling. The bigger car, the better job, the longer vacation.

But maybe we already have the filling for these holes and we don't even realize it.

Maybe it's in all the small things that make us smile, the fleeting moments we don't even notice.

It really doesn't take much to be happy. Or at least to feel happy at any given moment.

Like when you score parking just outside the restaurant you're going to. And everything on the menu is half off.

Or when you get an e-mail from an old friend you haven't seen in years. And it's not forwarded.

Or when you finally make it to Friday, and you realize you have nothing — not even laundry — to do that weekend. And surf's up.

Happiness can be loud and triumphant: getting the promotion, paying off the student loan, hitting Megabucks.

But happiness can also come in quiet moments. Eating waffles for dinner, napping on your lunch break or guiltlessly watching "Laguna Beach" when no one's home.

String these moments together and you probably wouldn't care about a truck parked in two stalls, either.

At least not for long.

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.