Every college student is familiar with the concept of distraction. Your friend wants to go to dinner but that 12 page paper isn't going to write itself. You have an exam on Friday but it's Thursday night and you want to watch the new Scandal episode. Distraction is all around us and instead of trying to avoid it we must embrace it.

Embracing distraction at first glance sounds like a really bad idea. This concept doesn't mean running away from your work, it means that every so often we need to check in with our bodies and see what we want.

Our desire to watch a TV show could be our body telling us that we are overworking ourselves. The "I want to go to dinner" could be our soul telling us that we have undervalued those important relationships with the people that we hold closest in our life.

There is a smart way to embrace distraction and a dumb way. The dumb way is to just run away from all of our responsibilities. The smart way is to evaluate our commitments.

Ask yourself this question: "Why am I doing this?" Sometimes we commit to something not because it will bring us joy or fulfillment but because it will make someone else's day or life easier. There is a time to be selfish. If we don't prioritize ourselves than who will?

The state of 'me' is an important thing to consider. How are you doing? Are you happy?

These two questions can help us figure out if we are on the right path. Those questions can lead to a major change for college students. It could lead to a change in career field for those in the "real world." Our distractions and temptations can point us toward true satisfaction.

I'm not saying that every time your friend wants to go to Nordstrom you should say yes; however, when you do get the desire to say yes think about why. Think about why your immediate reaction isn't no.

That simple thought might be all it takes for you to see if what you are doing in life has meaning.