Life-Affirming Aesop

"What is a fear of living? It's being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself — for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good."

— Maya Angelou

Life is complex, and people are expected to face adversity while living, which can cause different reactions. Everyone is alive, but one unfortunate and absolute part is death. So, one can be understandably daunted by such a concept, though that doesn't mean one should stop living.

Some pieces of media have An Aesop that may promote that life is meant to be lived and that we can't let apathy and other forms of negativity stop living. Everyone has feelings related to death, especially when someone they know or care about meets their end. As much as everyone will face different aspects of life, including death, sooner or later, it doesn't mean that one can't live life. They may also teach about how there are things Worth Living For.

It mainly involves characters understanding how to live. It is often a Hard Truth Aesop due to how bittersweet it may be when learning it. An example is the character learning that Living Is More than Surviving. It's also often the Aesop of an It's a Wonderful Plot.

See also The Anti-Nihilist.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Bleach: Fear is a central theme in the story and affects the characters, especially the fear of death. Both fear and death play a crucial role in the characters' actions, motivations, and lives.
• Chainsaw Man: Denji is forced to grapple with the reality of his dreams either being disappointing or coming at a heavy cost, and also with the struggle of what to do when your dreams have been destroyed or already been accomplished. The manga's answer is to simply strive for more dreams. And also to offer kindness where it's most needed.
• Delicious in Dungeon: Mithrun is ready to lie down and die at the end, having achieved his all-consuming goal of Revenge. When Kabru tells him that he can always find new interests and desires like they have on their journeys, his teammates encourage him, and Senshi (coincidentally) explains how even old vegetable scraps can be put to good use, he decides to keep going.
• Girls' Last Tour: In spite of surviving in the ruins of a dead civilization, losing their Kettenkrad and that nothing was awaiting for them in the highest layer, which was their goal, Chito and Yuuri still conclude that living for living's sake is good, because of all the positive experiences which can be enjoyed.
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: In "The Secret of Blue Water", Nadia survives her suicide attempt and asks Jean how he manages to keep living. Jean replies that life is made to be enjoyed.
  Nadia: How do you keep on living, Jean?
  Jean: What do you mean? Because I'm alive now? That's what life is — living for tomorrow. It doesn't matter what the secret of the Blue Water is...
  Nadia: Huh?
  Jean: Or how you're related to Atlantis, or even whether you're an Earth man or not. You're still Nadia.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Despite all the suffering and all the trauma that destroys him throughout the series, Shinji Ikari decides that he ultimately wants to live, even with all the hurt he's accumulated all through his life. And he's not the only one.

Films — Animation

• Soul: Joe and 22 do their best to find 22's spark to gain an Earth Pass so Joe can resurrect, and 22 stays in the Great Beyond. Each one learns about themselves and even about finding a purpose for living.

Films — Live-Action

• Everything Everywhere All at Once addresses the nihilistic despair that would come from not only realizing that The Multiverse exists, but that all your choices are either meaningless or the objectively wrong ones you could've taken. However, it ends up reinforcing how precious life ultimately is, especially the small moments that ever-so-briefly gives one joy and fulfillment. And rather than fall into the Despair Event Horizon over the cosmic implications of existence, one must instead extend kindness to others and make life worth living.
  Evelyn Wang: We can do whatever we want. Nothing matters.
• It's a Wonderful Life: Suicidal George Bailey, after seeing what the world would be like if he had never been born, is ecstatic to return to his life and family, in spite of his problems. He is then further affirmed when his friends in Bedford Falls all show up to help him out of the debt that made him suicidal in the first place, proving that, "No man is a failure who has friends."
• Scrooge (1970) emphasizes this theme even more than the original book of A Christmas Carol does. Scrooge is not only taught to be a better, kinder person, but snapped out of his sullen apathy and taught to enjoy life again, because as the Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come reminds him, he only has a limited time to do so. The Ghost of Christmas Present sings a song titled "I Like Life," which Scrooge reprises in the end.

Literature

• Albert Camus, as a proponent of the "philosophy of the absurd", published many books where the protagonists discovered the meaningfulness of life. The Stranger has the protagonist, Meursault, discover that life is something to be delighted, while being held in Death Row, awaiting to be guillotined.
  Maman used to say that you can always find something to be happy about. In my prison, when the sky turned red and a new day slipped into my cell, I found out that she was right.
• Dear Dumb Diary: Live Each Day to the Dumbest has Jamie fall into a state of ennui after her grandmother dies. After reading what she believes is her grandmother's diary and seeing entries about the same kind of middle school romance drama Jamie herself worries about, Jamie decides it's all just "dumb," since she knows her grandmother will eventually die and none of this will matter, and she loses passion for her usual interests like art or the school dance. However, when she learns this was her grandfather's diary and he was writing about the woman who would become his wife, Jamie realizes sometimes "dumb" things can be important too. She goes to the school dance with Hudson and has a good time, realizing you need to enjoy the "dumb" things in life to get to the "smart" things, "and maybe sometimes the dumbness is even the best part of your day. Or your week. Or your life."

Philosophy

• Existentialism is based on the fact that life is meant to be actively lived. As Jean-Paul Sartre said, "Man is condemned to be free."

Theater

• Beetlejuice: Lydia spends most of the show obsessing over death, as she is grieving her dead mother. When she goes to the Netherworld trying to find her mother, a number of ghosts tell her she's better off going home and living her life while she can. Her father also follows her and helps Lydia realize she still has a family to live for.

Video Games

• Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura: While Kerghan plans to "cleanse" the world of all life to end suffering, your companion Virgil speaks out against this. Despite having been killed (by the thugs who murdered his brother who couldn't pay his debt) and resurrected, he thinks life is still worth living, despite having experienced the perfect bliss of the afterlife.
• Fate/Grand Order: The theme of humanity plays a big part in the story, as seen through the Singularities Humanity Foundation Value. Humanity is defined differently, such as whether one can find true happiness and truly live if one becomes immortal.
• Final Fantasy XIV:
  • The Big Bad of Endwalker wishes to end all life on Hydaelyn and the entire universe by bringing about the Final Days because they believe there is no happiness to be found in life. The expansion story goes into detail about people's reactions to the coming cataclysm, ranging from despairing at the coming end, attempting to flee to another star, or trying to find a way to stop the threat of the Final Days for good. In the end, the heroes succeed at stopping the Final Days, with the Warrior of Light showing Meteion that our actions give meaning and joy to a meaningless universe as life is filled with both suffering and happiness.
  • Similarly, the Big Bad of the Endwalker post-story is Golbez, who seeks salvation for the souls trapped in a Death World and subject to endless Horror Hunger. To him, breaking the barrier between the void and the Source and allowing the voidsent to invade and eventually die to be reincarnated is better than continuing to live such a desolate existence. At the end of the story, he's convinced to abandon his plans after Zero proves that Light can be returned to the void, choosing instead to live and continue searching for a way to save his world rather than trying to help his people die.
• Honkai: Star Rail: In Penacony's storyline, Aventurine claims that "sleep is the rehearsal of death". In response to this, Acheron says that the reason life sleeps is to prepare for death; caring for one's death is pointless because of its inevitability, while all the things people do in their journey towards death (i.e "life") are what gives "the end" a different meaning.
• Night in the Woods: The ending has Mae embrace her insignificance in the face of either her psychosis, or a genuine eldritch being, saying she wants to be able to hope again, and until then, she wants to hurt, because at least it means her life has some form of purpose.
  Mae: ...This won't stop until I die. But when I die, I want it to hurt. When my friends leave, when I have to let go, when this entire town is wiped off the map, I want it to hurt, bad. I want to lose. I want to get beaten up. I want to hold on until I'm thrown off and everything ends and you know what? Until that happens, I want to hope again and I want it to hurt because that means it meant something. It means I am... something, at least. Heh heh ha haheheh heh. Pretty amazing to be something, at least.
• Persona 3: Death is the game's Central Theme and a Major Arcana. While related to doom and prognostication, the tarot interpretation of Death is more about metamorphosis, profound change, regeneration, and cycles. Tarot cards mainly depict the journey of the Fool (the same Arcana as the main protagonist), where each Arcana acts as a phase while interpreting life that a person could experience.
• The World Ends with You: The game's core theme is about how to live in the world. The Reaper's Game is made for Players to survive and improve through their experience.
  • NEO: The World Ends with You carries on with the theme from the previous story but focuses more on decisions and their consequences.
• In Sonic and the Black Knight, the big lesson imparted in the game is the idea of living life to the fullest without clinging to the past. Big Bad Merlina, having learned that Camelot is destined to fall, enacts a plan to regain Excalibur's scabbard and plunge the legendary kingdom an unchanging stasis. Sonic, knowing that everything has an end, refuses to allow Merlina to perform this plan and ultimately defeats her before convincing her to enjoy Camelot while it lasts. The game's ending theme, "Live Life", further pushes this Aesop.
• Slay the Princess uses this trope as a central theme and it serves as the fundamental belief of the Shifting Mound during the final confrontation between her and the protagonist. Depending of the choice the player makes during their "fight", they may enforce this trope by ultimately agreeing with her or defy it and force the world into a state of deathless stability.

Western Animation

• Carol and the End of the World: The Earth is doomed to be destroyed by a planet in months, and everything in the world will inevitably face death. People try to do everything they can on their bucket list, whether unabashed or daring, before the end. Everyone is trying to live before the end comes in months.
• The Ghost and Molly McGee: The Series Finale, "The End", has the lesson of not letting misery stop you from feeling the joy life can bring. One can't just watch one's life go by; one needs to live it even if it means taking risks; otherwise, one may regret missed opportunities.

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♫ All the journeys start somewhere with a first step
No one's sure what lies ahead,
Be bold and brave (stand up)
Roads may be rough and tough
Though it will lead somewhere
(Nothing easy get up and go get it go)
Sometimes it's journey itself that teaches
A lot about the destination not aware of
No matter how far (no matter how far)
How you go (how you go)
How long it may last
(Carpe Diem, no time to waste)
Venture life burn your dread
(You gotta venture life go get it burn your dread) ♫

—a portion of lyrics from Full Moon, Full Life , opening for Persona 3 Reload