Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

The nurse asked me if I was next and she led me into Dr. Grey's surgery. Dr. Grey smiled at me and asked what the problem was. I'm a young man and am not the sort of person she has to see very often! I told her I was feeling rather run down. She asked me if I had kept regular hours and I said I hadn’t been. She wanted to know why I didn’t keep regular hours and I said I had been out with friends almost every evening. Dr. Grey then wanted to know how I had spent my time and I told her I went to parties mostly. The doctor asked if I didn’t have the chance to recover during weekends and I told her that my party-going had been even worse during the weekends! She asked me if I smoked. When I said I did, she asked how many cigarettes a day I smoked. She raised her eyebrows when I answered! Then she asked me if I had taken any exercise and I answered that I did not have time for that sort of thing. “You're burning the candle at both ends, Mr. Finley,” she told me. “Rest is the only cure for you. You've really got to slow down.” She looked at me wistfully before I left her surgery and added, “But I do envy you the life you've been living!”