I have to admit that I’m one of those individuals with passion for government, politics, and discussing important issues of the day. But the announcement by Elizabeth Edwards that her cancer had come back and that it was incurable came as a shock to me. Putting politics aside, I was touched, and I was inspired.

Here is this lady who refuses, as Dylan would put it, succumb “to the dying of the light”. She refuses to let cancer win, and she is doing so with courage, hope, and strength of faith.

I had deep respect for this woman even before all of this. You really have to respect the wife of any politician to go through the life that they go through. It may sound like a pretty good life, but if we look at honest, decent, and good politicians, you will see the heart of a true public servant. And I saw this with John Edwards, and to have a wife and a family as cohesive as theirs, was refreshing to see.

This deep respect was heightened even more to as I saw the news unfold, watched the announcement being played over and over again on different news channels. Despite some critics, I think there is an overwhelming amount of support for her decision to have John Edwards stay on course with his run for the presidency.

I’m not endorsing any candidate, at least not yet, but this specific event is beyond politics, and looks deeply into the soul of an inspirational woman. when I have talked to women in the past 24 hours, I have asked them about their opinion on this subject, and by far, the overwhelming sentiment is of admiration. And indeed I admire her for her courage, for being refreshingly candid, and for living.

It does remind me of a saying, or maybe it’s a bible verse, I’m not sure. But it says that we should not boast of tomorrow, for tomorrow may never come.

We are mortal beings, with a definite end to our physical body. We cannot take life lightly, but we must live. To approach life in mediocrity is to go about life without passion. Elizabeth Edwards is living life, and she shows us that we can never be certain of our future, but we can only be certain of our actions today…

At SFgate.com,

It helps that Elizabeth Edwards confronted her diagnosis with a steady grace. She provided Americans with a solid template on how to absorb a cancer diagnosis. When she announced that her cancer was back last week, she was upbeat about her odds of holding her cancer at bay — which has to increase her prospects — yet clear in the knowledge that bad things happen to good people.

Most important, Elizabeth Edwards told “60 Minutes,” “Either you push forward with the things that you were doing yesterday or you start dying.”