It's strange how one event (and it was a non-event) really changes one's perspective.
I used to love heights. As a kid and teenager I'd climb everything in sight.
As an adult I took up Abseiling and mild mountain climbing.
When I was a Youth Worker I took the youth from our centre to the Grampians for mountain climbing and abseiling.
But all that changed in an instant on one of those trips away with our Youth.
Up in the Grampians there is an amazing sheer cliff lookout (Zumsteins I think
).
One of my fellow Youth Workers wanted to show the youth how it looked away from the safety barrier.
In this particular spot, to the left of where the barrier ends, there is a flat-topped rock that juts out into open air. A bit like a shelf. Nothing below it but a sheer drop!
This clown decided to take some of the youth out on the edge of it and sit down with their legs over the edge as if it was just a comfy chair!!!
About a thousand foot drop below them!
I panicked!
Ever since that exact moment I have been affected badly by heights.