Many or most of us do not dare venture outside the lines/outside the box. The few who do are either BRAVE or FOOLISH. Which is more likely?

You're braver than I am L. I'm pretty sure we had this conversation before. I go outside the box outside the lines in my mind with my voice. But physically I'm a coward. I would NEVER go whitewater rafting or sky diving. NEVER. I have a fear of heights. If I am above the third floor and look out over a balcony my knees give out. It's a physical manifestation that is terrifying. I can look at a photo from a plane over water and it's more than I can bear. Strangely though and this is so very odd. Whenever I was in a plane I enjoyed sitting by the window. I have no idea why. I felt  divorced from the ground but also part of it. I can't explain that anomaly. I think it's very weird. Thank you for your reply! :)

The other thing I would never do is bungee jump.  :)  I don't have fear of heights, so I'm OK there, but I do understand that many people do.  I went hot air ballooning in New Mexico and my friend was hesitant to go because she is afraid of heights.  The fellow told her she would be OK as long as she didn't look down - that she should keep her eyes on the horizon - and it worked for her.  That was quite a thrill, especially when we were over a canyon and I looked down and got the full enjoyment of the ride.  

I just got shivers from your describing it L. "....we were over a canyon and I looked down...:" Not this gal! Not never! Well you get the gist! Unless I'm passed out and can't see. I suppose someone could knock me out put a parachute on me and hold my hand as we went down? Otherwise I just can't imagine me jumping out of plane to sky dive. Maybe a hot air balloon but I would not look directly down. I looked up and out. Even so I doubt it bigly. Thank you for your reply! :)

LOL ... I understand.

Years ago at Disneyland my date and I rode on a "People Mover" which took you over  Disneyland. From one side to another. We got out and my legs buckled but my date caught me before I hit the ground. So it affects me physically. Weird. Thank you for your reply L and Happy Monday! :)

I understand even though I don't suffer from the same thing.

Empathy is rare my friend. Maybe it is becoming extinct? I shall ask. Thank you for your reply L! :)

I know.  It seems to have gone the way of civility.

I think members of CULTS lack it completely. They fawn over a personality and give themselves up and over to it. As if they incomplete on their own. Weird. Thank you for your reply L and Happy Tuesday! :)

People join cults for the same reasons they join gangs - the need to be part of something.  Often, they don't have good home lives growing up and the cult/gang becomes the family they needed and didn't have.  Happy Tuesday. :)

I have always looked down on such folks are being very needy and weak. BAD ROSIE I guess but seriously to submit oneself to the demands of another just to "belong"? If that isn't HE** it's close enough to it for me. Independent thought is not allowed. Groupthink is all that is permitted. AARRGGHH! Thank you for your reply L! :)

I feel sad for people who don't have much self-esteem, but that is a trait nourished in childhood.  It's difficult to overcome in adulthood without help.

My dad told us that we could do whatever we wanted to do in life as long as we were willing to work for it. My mom was a bit harder to please. But our dad gave us a certain confidence though not enough to become conceited or supercilious or pompous. Thankfully. Thank you for your reply L! :)

In my family, it was the other way around.  It was my father who could never be pleased.

Geez imagine having your dad and my mom as your parents or mine! No safe harbor for us. WHEW! When I was a kid I overhead some idiot adult (I was close enough so I could hear!) ask my dad if he regretted have two girls and no boys. He got a tad angry and said "I wouldn't trade my two girls for anything ever! There are my joy (I don't know if that was the word he used but that's what I got from it.) I think that person regretted asking that question. I don't know if my dad knew I heard it but I can't tell you how precious that made me feel. I'm still warmed by it all these years later. Of course WHAT ELSE could he say? Thank you for your reply! :)

I'm sure that somewhere deep down, my father would have liked to have at least one son rather than four daughters.  I suppose he never heard compliments from his parents and he was not one to give them to us.  He did tell others that he was proud of us (when he had a couple of drinks in him), but I cannot recall one time he said "I love you" to me and none of my sisters can recall him saying that to them either.

Oh gee Lin...gee. That hurts my heart. My mom had two younger brothers and they got all the attention and admiration. Being a "girl" then was being second class. I think she didn't know how to compliment. I do remember lots of gentle "corrections". I always felt if I did something 99.5% right and good it was that pesky .5% that caught her eye. I think she had a hard life early on and just didn't know better. Whereas with our dad well we were both daddy's girls...my sister especially. 7 years younger. I got married when I was 20 in 1958 and she was 13 so until daddy passed away she had him all to herself..which sadly wasn't that long. She was born in 1944 in December and Daddy passed away January 1960. He was 54. Mom lived until she was 95 but dementia overtook her toward the end. A stroll down memory lane. Apologies! :)

I understand completely, just in the reverse. :)

Bookends?

Yup. :)

:):):)

I've done white water rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. That was beautiful and something I'll never forget. I also rode a motorcycle through the San Juan and Rockie Mountains which was a bit tense because there were no guard rails. I guess I stepped outside the box and ventured outside the lines a lot in my life but bungee-jumping wasn't one of them. Nope, that would never happen with me either. :)