As you can see from the photo on the right, I'm a stocky guy (see, also, Bear Meets Bear). But I had my socks surprised right off me a few weeks ago when my doctor not so calmly informed me that I had crept right into a clinical diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Treatable, curable, blah blah blah but definitely not good. After the doc spelled out all the risk factors -- I believe he called me a set of walking bomblets -- he told me that he knew I would take his urgings seriously because he could easily see the horror in my eyes.

Both of my grandfathers had diabetes and my mom's father actually lost both of his legs from the disease. So the propensity is definitely in my genes although I never thought it would hit me. After all, I'm the stocky guy who ran 17 marathons (that's a picture of me running the Disney World Marathon in 2003) and never really lost my stockiness. I just thought I'd always be stocky and always be okay.

Not to be, I guess.

But by now you're probably wondering what this has to do with the environment. Hang with me and you'll see that the relevance is quite strong.

Besides enduring a professional environmentalist schedule that -- particularly after this year's Oscars ceremony -- has steadily stolen my exercise time, what this diagnosis taught me more than anything else was the need for balance in my life.

I no longer subway back and forth from the train station to my office. I walk instead. And when presented with the choice between an escalator or a set of steps, I hoof it up the steps. I'm also seeking time for exercise (not too successfully yet) and, more successfully, watching the diet. Maybe I should do a weight watch on this blog. The publicity may just keep me in line!

Here comes the environment. What would help the environment the most? Balance!

I was just reading a story in Good Magazine about the Compact, the semi-infamous group of people who pledge not to buy any new stuff. Their basic take: Our hyper-consumer society has led to global environmental and the only way to reverse it is to stop buying. Literally.

Intriguing movement for sure. (I even signed up a while ago for one of their email lists, but quickly had to unsubscribe because Compact members clearly spend all of the time they're saving not shopping by writing email. Never have I seen so many bytes being consumed by one group of people.)

But how many of us are going to ever join the Compact movement? Not many. I personally like to shop. It is relaxing and I enjoy trying to find new green(er) products to buy and then rave about. So I'm not stopping.

And I'm not going to stop driving (although I do drive a hybrid). And I'm not going to stop adopting dogs (I'll soon be introducing Abe, a 12-week-old Jack Russell puppy who is the newest member of the Weaver-Gutis pack).

But I'm also never going to stop seeking balance. In my life, for my family and for the environment. What happens when we realize that we've crept past the clinical diagnosis of global warming and the scientists tell us that its not so curable or treatable.

Can you imagine the horror that would be reflected in our eyes then?