life on the doorstep of death

Why do we enjoy near death adventures so much? I thought about why we like and/or gravitate towards these things. I've come to the conclusion that it is in our nature. We have this idea that we are to live life to the fullest, and so experiencing something so powerful like climbing a 100ft cliff without rope, bungie jumping, jumping from a plane 18,000 feet up, gives us a feeling of power that we somehow control our very life. Yet trust is involved in all of these things. We trust our equipment, our own abilities, something outside ourselves. Tell me one instance where these two things do not coexist. Is this a blind trust? I think not, but maybe some people who fail, are also not thinking(play on words). People want to escape the every day stagnation, and although chemically and biologically it makes sense, the very fact that we put ourselves in deaths path seems odd. Animals don't do it, we are the only beast that does...So what does that say about our intelligence levels? Our need for certain chemical reactions... not much. I believe we do it because we need it. These near death experiences shape us, and make us who we are. It's an odd thing that we need these things to clearly show us our strengths, weaknesses, and what we are really made of. I've done more wild and crazy things than most people, and those that know me know this is true. Have I injured myself more as well...yes, but what I get out of it, is that I know what I'm capable of, and that I can do anything, albeit stupid things at times. I have marks all over my body from machete blades, to scars on my head from trampolines, and as many people remark, scars show your danger level What am I trying to say from all of this...Well we need near death experiences, wild adventures, and things that scare the crap out of us. These things are necessary to our existence, and if we are to live, and flourish, we need to experience more everyday. Most people say live life to the fullest, I say live each day on the doorstep of death, only then can you recognize your frailty, and your need to trust in something outside yourself. If we do these things just for fun is meaningless because if we fail we die, and if we die, we defy the purpose that the rest of the animal kingdom lives for, to live, to breed, to die, that is all. We are more, so much more