The impulse to jump.

I have heard of occasions where people who are afraid of heights, find themselves in a high place and are overcome by an impulse to jump.. Is the height & fear of falling why they are afraid of heights? or is it the fear of doing something insane...like actually jumping?

This whole internet trolling /cheating seems to be related. It's "naughty/dangerous/titillating", and there is always that instant just before you "jump" that has to be intoxicating.

In past times, a person might casually know someone and over time fantasize about what an affair with them might be like, but nothing came of it because the opportunity was fleeting. There was also the cold hard fact that the price to pay for it might be too much to bear. We had impulses, but we also had the capability to rein in those impulses.

People have always flirted, but not every flirtation amounted to more than that, because one or the other held back.

When I was 21 and married less than a year, I was a travel consultant. We had airline reps in and out of the office all the time. There was a very handsome Air India rep who was always trying to get us to take the free trips to India they were always offering. No one ever took them up on the offer because they were always 3 weeks long, and the agency would never have paid us to be gone for 3 weeks, and no one wanted to give up vacation time to shlep all over India. Anyway, this guy always showed up when it was my lunch time, and always took me to lunch, and cajoled & flirted.. The 3 week India trip was always "on the table".. I "knew" that if I accepted the offer, there would be more to the trip than what the itinerary offered.

I told my husband about the trip and he said.. "You should go..it would be a great experience"...

Needless to say, I never went to India. I could have gone..with my husband's blessing, but even at 21 I knew that playing with fire can lead to serious burns.

The internet offers "cyber-trips" , secret trysts & emotional affairs.

There must be something within some people who see that ledge, and just have to get as close to the edge as possible, and pray that they don't jump.

The jumpers get caught

me. I hate it; it makes me feel feeble.

I feel the same way when the subway is coming down the tracks - this irrational compulsion to throw myself in front of the train. I don't know, is it because we fear death and destruction so much we want to take control of it ourselves?

even thinking about it just sitting in a chair, because it gets so vivid.

some opinions that "sex" had to be made taboo or "dirty" and "dangerous" for

some people to enjoy it -- !!

And not real live people... I read that too.

how utterly sad:(

the problem is that typically once they jump the damage they inflict can be awful to undo.

my spouse got himself in a bad work situation, the stress of it put him in a bad mental state.

he decided to jump on an opportunity with a gold digging woman and meanwhile we were married with kids and a relatively good relationship.

i struggled with what to do. I decided to work with him.

the sad part is that his "jump" cost him the trust of many of our friends, his own family, my family and sadly his children. at times people thought he would kill himself.

years later he is still saddened how people treat him because of his very bad behavior (it became known to friends due to his own actions) close women friends of ours will recoil from him. meanwhile he has always been a quiet shy person. he jumped when a woman who was in a desparate situation (bankrupt with a husband who was leaving her) created a situation.

my friends have been supportive of me and I am glad i stayed, he was a good person, he made a very bad mistake and i couldn't see throwing our long marriage away and destroying our children's lives. however it takes time and a lot of counseling and honestly.

Many do not survive the jump..

he was worth helping. it took a lot of hard work and patience

Did you ever see David Lean's "Passage to India"? Or read the book? Gorgeous scenery and people, but I do know what you mean about playing with fire.

but 3 weeks in India might not have been worth the cost. he was a very cute guy and older (about 30 I would guess)..He looked very much like Omar Shariff:)

I would like to see it , but since I promised to never fly again, I don't think I'll make it:)

My husband & I went to Tahiti in '03 and that was our last "big trip":)

Blindingly beautiful. :)

I'm planning a trip to Asia, but lots of things will have to fall into place before then. Would be my fifth continent visited. :)

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