SURVIVE AND THRIVE, IS THAT THE GOAL? 

Survive and Thrive. Is that the goal in an RPG? Or do you choose a dangerous path and ignore the warnings that litter a game? A game in which characters are usually cherished or prized or (fill in your own words). 

Perhaps you don't need to survive every encounter, though I'd wager many readers would disagree. So is death a faliure? It's definitely an experience. And you'll be back in the action again (very soon I imagine at most tables). Feeling free to guide your own destiny is generally espoused. "Do what your character would do." "You're the hero and protagonist." "The story meant to cast you as the one who can display great feats of power." Being given choices, and taking risks with your character can be (usually is) a primary component of an RPG. After all, most systems are built on a variety of ways to fight and die. 

Most of the time you know what action YOU would have your character take almost immediately. But a question often comes to my mind: Is that choice different than what your character would do? I find that question fraught with potential for discussion between the idea of the player and the idea of the character. It's easy to step away from that dynamic of thought I suppose. For me, one of the cool parts of playing a character is when death is on the line. And I definitely don't always jump in that direction for the same reasons you don't. But I do tend to feel that that speaks to the the essence of the fun of role-playing - for without that envelope, what is there to measure yourself against? 

Surviving is akin to "beating the GM/story-teller". Those are the times when a fusion of player and character are present. But, at times, it is also when the persona of your character is forgotten and the game becomes something a bit removed from what it was just a moment ago. Many love that sort of game.