The first time I remember someone inspiring me (and quite honestly having a profound effect on me forever more) was in 1989. I was in year 7 and was 11 years old.
I was transfixed by the news about the Tiananmen Square massacre, when this footage came on the screen of this man holding nothing but shopping bags blocking a line of war tanks and not letting them pass.
I remember being in awe, not only by the bravery of this "Tank man" but also by the men in the tank at the front of the line who refused to run this man down.
You see... the army had just open fire on unarmed students massacring absurd amounts of people. If the tank ran this one man down, the Chinese government would not have cared... in fact the men in the tank probably would have been rewarded for showing unfaltering dedication.
There was a very good chance that their commanding officer was screaming over the radio at the men in the tank to "run that man down"... but they didn't and they wouldn't.
In this moment I saw something that I had never seen in the human race before.
A man armed with nothing but his own body, refusing to allow the tanks to pass without running him down KNOWING that after those people were killed that his government wouldn't hesitate to kill him as well... but still wouldn't move.
Meeting a tank full of men who KNEW that after all those people were killed that their government would want them to run this man down as well and do their duty... but wouldn't.
The strength of will to do that, on both sides of this "moment in time"... my eyes still tear up when I think about it. It was so beautiful.
It was the first time I felt truly proud to be human.
Noone knows who "tank man" was, he has no name, no face. Neither does anyone know who were the men in the tank. They all just disappeared... the Chinese government would not tolerate what any of them did.
... and the footage we saw was never released to the Chinese people and still few citizens even know it ever happened.
However, I learned from these men to always do the right thing no matter what and to never walk away. Even when you have absolutely no chance of winning, and even at the risk of your own life. Regardless of whether you are ordered to by even your own government.
Always do what you know is right in your heart of hearts.
This moment stick with me always, and has guided my choices many times in my life so far... and likely will again.
