THE GOOD SHEPHERD: USING OUR DOWN TIME

i was thinking about Jesus' story about the good shepherd and the worthless shepherds. the bad shepherds ran away when a lion or a bear came to devour sheep.  the good shepherd stayed and defended the sheep. 
i realized that the good sh. had to have some expectation that he would be able to defend himself and the sheep.  otherwise his valor would be not useful to the sheep. 
so i thought about David who had good skills at defending against predators. i am sure that part of that was that he practiced with his sling while he was out there shepherding.  other shepherds might have laid out in the shade as much as they could.  but then they would not have been ready when trouble came. 
likewise, if we are to be like God, we should push ourselves to use our "down time" in pursuits of benefit to ourselves and others as much as we can muster up the gumption to stay with it. 
i am speaking to myself in this post.  i like to take it easy. 
but i can also say to myself, as i said to a child in my care recently, "you don't have to want to do it.  you just have to do it."