Drop after drop, water can hollow out a stone.

To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. ‘I will drink the ocean,’ says the persevering soul; ‘at my will mountains will crumble up.’ Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.

Swami Vivekananda

In 1996 Mai Li was studying to be a professional ballerina when tragedy struck – she lost her right arm in a car accident. For many years she was distraught, but in 2005 she met Zhai Xiaowei who as a child had lost his left leg to a tractor. Mai had a vision that the two should dance together, but Zhai was reluctant because he had never danced before. Mai convinced him to give it a try and the two practiced every day for a year from 8am to 11pm. Zhai dropped Mai over a thousand times.

They were the first handicapped couple to enter the CCTV (China TV) national dance competition and ended up winning a Silver medal with a 99.17 score, and the highest audience vote ever. This performance is a powerful testimony to the power of the human spirit. It may be hard to imagine someone who is missing a limb to aspire to be a Ballerina, however, this video is proof that dreams do indeed come true.

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