It didn’t hit me until yesterday. Ridiculous, really, since I’m surrounded by calendars on a daily basis. (Three to be exact. Well, four if you count the one in my phone.) Yet, for some reason it wasn’t until 24 hours ago, as I was writing the date on the top of something, that I realized how close we were to the end of 2010. I stared at those numerals (12/29) and felt the panic start to rise. Because I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure I’m ready to say usher in 2011 just yet.

I mean, where exactly did the last 360-odd days go? They just flew by. It seems like last month, not 12 months ago, that I was sitting at this same desk writing my standard Year in Review-type stories.

I’m sure that I’m not the only who finds themselves wishing for more time – more hours in the day, days in the week(end), months in the year. Time we could spend with friends and family, doing things we love, smelling the proverbial roses. Sleeping, perhaps. All those things we typically try to shoe-horn in around the drudgery of life. Like work, and school board meetings. And doing laundry.

Rather than lament about that which I have no control over – yep, there’s a first time for everything – I’ve decided to concentrate on the changes I can make on my end. Because I’ve set a goal for myself: to achieve greater balance in my life in 2011.

My inspiration for this is my friend Keven Bucklin, one of my former Leadership Chenango classmates and without one of the most brilliant people I know. On one of our first meetings, Keven talked about the concept of the “Life Pie.” I couldn’t tell you all the specifics of this theory, but the gist of it is that health, happiness and well-being depend on there being balance in that pie, which is, of course, a metaphor for life. Each slice of this limited pie (because our resources of time, energy and like are not limit-less, after all) represent a different aspects of your life – work, family, friends, etc. Why is it so important to have a balance? Well, I think we’ve all felt the stress which results when one “slice” starts taking up too much of our resources.

So, with my friend’s words of wisdom in mind, I’ve been giving a bit of thought to the coming year. And I’ve decided to shake things up a bit. I won’t be making any of those one-off resolutions – to lose weight, wean myself off caffeine or whatever. Nor will I be relying on my perpetual “to-do” list – 101 short and long-term goals I revise every six-months – to guide me.