betray themselves to heedlessness.
The wise treasure the awareness
they have cultivated
as their most precious possession.
Dhammapada v.26
It is easy to take for granted the everyday level of clarity that we have. Even without regularly putting time aside to formally discipline attention, the practice of observing precepts alone can produce a quality of clarity that many people lack. Just as we might take our health for granted until we fall ill, we can likewise get used to living with a well-developed degree of awareness. The Buddha is advising us to value, even treasure, the results of our good efforts.
