This quote speaks to one of the great paradoxes of human experience: we live in the present moment, yet we frequently miss it entirely by dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.

"Life unfolds in the present"—this is where everything actually happens: the sensations, the emotions, the opportunities. Yet we "so often let it slip away" because we're mentally somewhere else. We allow "time to rush past unobserved and unseized"—we don't fully experience our experiences, and we don't fully utilize the opportunities each moment contains. The richest life is lived by those who learn to be fully present with what is, rather than constantly chasing what was or what might be.

This quote is a wake-up call to mindfulness. It reminds us that the quality of our life is determined by the quality of our attention to the present moment.