Follow these steps to complete the activity below.

Make a list of the pros and cons of practicing mindfulness skills.
Make another list of the pros and cons of not practicing mindfulness skills.
Check the facts to be sure that you are correct in your assessment of advantages and disadvantages.

Rate Willingness to Practice before and after (0 = None; 100 = Very High)

Complete this activity when you are:
•• Trying to decide whether to work on becoming more mindful of the moments in your life.
•• Feeling willful; saying no to letting go of emotion mind or extreme reasonable mind.
•• Resisting observing the present moment, rather than escaping it or trying to control it.
•• Resisting giving up your interpretations of others or yourself, rather than just describing.
•• Resisting throwing yourself into the flow of the moment; wanting to stand on the outside.
•• Feeling threatened whenever you think of letting go of judgments.
•• Not in the mood for being effective instead of proving you are right.

When you are completing this activity, think about these questions:
•• Is a mindless life in your best interest (i.e., effective), or not in your best interest (i.e., ineffective)?
•• Will refusing to go into Wise Mind solve a problem, or make a new problem for you?
•• Is observing the moment without reacting to it immediately likely to increase your freedom, or decrease it?
•• Is being attached to your thoughts instead of the facts you can describe useful, or not?
•• Is staying judgmental helping you change the things you want to change, or getting in the way?
•• Is it more important to be effective, or to be right?

The mindful practice of accepting things as they are, in the moment, without judgment, doesn’t mean one agrees with the way things are, nor does it imply a lack of motivation for change.  It’s more of a touchstone, a place to begin the process of personal growth and transformation.

A DBT group put together a pros and cons list for practicing mindfulness vs staying mindless (see below). I may be biased, but it seems like there is a huge amount of personal satisfaction that one can cultivate with healthy habits of the mind. What do you think?

Pros of Being Mindful: You can actually enjoy what you are doing. Your relationships are enriched. You can enjoy better connections and fewer misunderstandings with others because you actively listen, rather than allow your mind to wander elsewhere. You may build greater focus, attention, and a capacity to stay calm under pressure. You may feel more confident, more in control, and have greater participation in all areas of life. You may be able to tap in to gratitude, acceptance, and less judgment of the who, what, where, when, and whys of life. You may experience greater self and social awareness, two mental assets that help significantly in regulating mood and emotions.

Cons of Being Mindful: It takes work, practice, and personal effort. Its just another thing you should do. Sometimes, being more aware can actually increase personal frustration or judgment.  It doesn’t always help. It won’t make problems go away. 

Pros of Staying Mindless:  Its easier. You don’t have to change. You can keep your “head in the sand.” Sometimes there is an immediate satisfaction when acting on urges without considering consequences.

Cons of Staying Mindless:  If your mind is not in the present, it’s likely stuck somewhere in the past, the future, or in constant evaluation of how things should be. You miss out on really meaningful moments in that are happening right now. You may experience more interpersonal conflict, more misunderstanding among family members, friends, and colleagues. Emotional reactivity thrives in mindlessness, often making problem solving difficult and challenging situations worse. Lack of self and interpersonal awareness affects social, emotional, academic, and occupational functioning. Mindlessness is missed opportunity in the making.

A quick Google search of pros and cons of mindfulness has left my parts more polarized than ever on the subject of practicing mindfulness. My ‘Self’ has asked parts to take a chance and assess the risks and benefits. So, I leave it up to you, dear reader, for you to decide for yourself, whether to practice mindfulness or not. “People do something different when the pain of staying the same outweighs the fear of change.”