Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience.
It isn't more complicated that that.
It is opening to or recieving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is,
without either clinging to it or rejecting it.
Sylvia Boorstein
Buddhism is the first philosophy/religion that I have ever come across to stress the importance of living day to day. To be present in everything you do. There is not the same pressure or ugency like others that base themselves around preparing for an eternity after death. Buddhists are both peaceful and tranquil because they accept that no one will ever understand exactly what happens to us after death.
I think that says a lot about our culture, we so busy rushing around trying to get to the next thing before it even happens, assuming that it will happen.