And with that, Wagga actress and comedienne Michelle Brasier emptied the contents of her heart to the world.

In a deeply personal and extraordinarily moving online article, Ms Brasier revealed she had been told there was a 97 per cent chance she would develop the pernicious disease.

Genetic roulette means the talented 28-year-old will almost certainly be tapped on the shoulder by cancer’s grasping reach during her lifetime.

Already, she has lost her father, brother and grandmother to the disease and her sister has been diagnosed with precancerous polyps in her stomach.

How does the human mind cope with being stalked by such a horrible fate?

Some despair, others gravitate to new-age quackery; a rare few shape up to the threat and give it the middle finger.

Ms Brasier is one of the few.

She has stubbornly refused to let what lies ahead define her, instead vowing to live in the moment.

Sometimes, you have to be on the edge of the cliff to appreciate how beautiful the scenery is.

“Maybe everyone should live like me,” she wrote.

“Yoga in the morning, whiskey in the evening. Never miss a sunset in case it's your last.”

Cancer might be an assault on your body’s cells but that doesn’t mean your mind is merely a passenger.

A positive attitude can be the elixir of life.

Amazing things happen when you divorce yourself from negativity.

Having a bad day?

You’ve probably only had a bad five minutes that you’re milking for all it’s worth.

Of course, positivity alone can’t defeat the force of nature that is cancer.

But it can make the journey more comfortable. And it can inspire others, just as Ms Brasier has.

By remaining positive, she is sending a thunderous message that while you can’t dictate the cards life deals you, you decide how the hand is played.

The best way for us to honour those living with cancer, and those that have succumbed to it, is to confront it.

That means supporting cancer charities, that means understanding your risk factors and acting on them.

And it means living well, just like Ms Brasier is.