I am not a Buddhist, but I find the Buddhist teaching to be incredibly comforting and a great source of focus for me when I get too far outside of myself.  There is a quote by Sylvia Boorstein that says, " 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."