The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The mariner's lifelong penance was to tell his story to anybody who would give him the time of day. His story would remind people that life isn't so bad that it can always get worse, doing this gave people a more positive outlook on life. The other theme of his story was that nature and all of God's creations should be respected. Everybody wins in this situation, the mariner wins because people listen to him and somehow gains some type of importance in other people's life, and everybody who does listen become satisfied with what life they're living.