"I need something to do"

Today was such a delightful day. Miles was such a joy!
We spent the morning playing with play dough, playing with Colin and reading books. He got to watch a PBS show and we took a little excursion to the store.

He didn't throw any tantrums or have any accidents. He didn't once say to me the phrase I have been hearing quite a lot lately; "I need something to do." Usually he says this phrase after I tell him not to such and such or don't play with that. I've been thinking lately that if I focus on giving him good activities to occupy his time, he has less opportunity and less motivation to seek out trouble.

I think this is a metaphor for adults as well. If we occupy our time doing things that are worthwhile, we are busy being engaged in doing good and less likely to fall down destructive paths. If we fill our days with wholesome activities, studies and uplifting pursuits we feel less temptation to waste away our days.

This is an area I constantly struggle with. Time management and organizational skills are not my strong suit. Everyday I feel like I'm fighting against my nature in being more focused and less scatterbrained and half the time it feels like I'm losing the battle. But I hope (even though it may be years and years down the road) I can work toward this goal and become better at focusing on the most important things. Not spending my time on the things that don't matter, don't have value and distract me from what's really important.