Time and Time Lord wait for no man

I've found the right pressure to perform. In tennis, I always play best when the odds are against me and I have a reason to win other than for myself. That's always been my thing. I don't know why.
This would be a problem for acting because I would be performing for myself. I'm self-sacrificing, which is why I have some problems with tennis because unless I have something other than myself to play for, I don't have as much fight. Don't get me wrong, I still have more fight than the average person (just ask me how many times I've thrown myself into fences trying to get the ball). But it's just not what I'm used to. When I play for my team and for my school, that's when I have emotions and that's when I will break myself trying to win.
I didn't have a reason other than me for acting. Or at least I didn't think I did. Today, my mom got a phone call from her youngest sister that had me feeling a little ashamed for myself. I'm really close to one of my cousin, who is seven years younger. She has a really bad case of scoliosis. It's not like I'd forgotten because who could forget that? I'd just gotten used to it. We've all known that she has to have surgery for it because it is so bad. Her surgery has been delayed for I think five years? Four years? I've lost track of how long and that makes me feel like a terrible cousin. First it was they didn't want to do it because children under the age of twelve don't wake up about half the time from the anaesthesia. That I agree with. That is an excellent reason. Now that she's getting old enough to get ready for the surgery, now they want her to grow some because they have to fuse the vertebrae in her back where the curvature is and add a rod and she won't grow anymore after it. So, naturally, they want her to grow another foot. The problem is her spine is starting to twist. So it's a race against time basically. Regardless of when she gets this surgery, she has to have another between 22-25 to plate the rod into her spine. That gives me at least ten years to get a nice solid career and a reason to have one that fast. I owe it to my aunt and I owe it to my cousin.
I do love a challenge.