A final, for now, comment on Steppenwolf and life

I have finished rereading the novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. I am still amazed how powerful the novel is for me, even 30 years after I initially read it. My other posts have commented on certain aspects of the work. Today, I want to address a quote on page 246, near the end of the piece. "You are willing to die, but not to live." How many of us have the same problem. Once we get over the fear of death from our younger years, as I see some do, we may get caught in the quasi-spiritual or pseudo-spiritual line of thinking death offers more to those advanced beings trapped here on earth in these limiting bodies. Hesse is addressing this issue, I believe, with his quote. Wanting to live, making a conscious choice to live well, may not happen to all. Maybe it is easier to just assume that death would be a better choice. This seems to be a cop-out answer. I like Hesse's suggestion, at least as interpreted by me, that learning to live is our real challenge. He poses a strong part of the answer. Learn to laugh. While that is not the answer to everything, a modification of it seems to fit most scenarios. Laugh at the ambiguities and unfairness in life. Laugh at ourselves trying to understand them. Laugh, and maybe we can begin to live consciously and not just as a prelude to death.