His army was greatly outnumbered by the enemy. He knew it and he knew his soldiers knew it. However, the Japanese Samurai Warlord was not dismayed. He decided to attack. He ordered to begin preparations on the eve of the battle.
They were an obedient lot, ready to die for their leader. Hence, they began preparations at once. But there was no enthusiasm, for they knew the enemy would mercilessly slaughter them.
Early morning on the day of the battle, the Warlord took his men to a pagoda for prayers. After spending some time in quiet prayer, the Warlord took out a coin and said, “I shall now toss this coin. If it is heads, we shall win. If it is tails we shall lose. Destiny will now reveal itself to us.”
While his men watched with tension mounting on their faces, the Warlord flipped the coin in the air. When it landed, it was heads. For a moment there was total silence. Then the men thundered with excitement. Right away they knew it was their destiny to win. With swords drawn, they ran to the camp of the enemy and attacked them from all sides. Caught unawares, the enemy soldiers failed to put up a brave fight. Pretty soon they surrendered.
Immediately the Warlord and his men began victory celebrations. As they were making merry, one of the reveling men remarked, “Well, no one can change our destiny.” “Quite right,” replied the Warlord with a mischievous smile. Then he showed them the coin, which had heads on both sides!
The Warlord was smart. He knew his men were good fighters and what they lacked was only self-confidence and a positive attitude. Hence, he tried to instill self-confidence in them by playing a trick on them. And it worked. All of a sudden their self-doubts disappeared and they realized that it was their destiny to win and that nothing could stop them from achieving their goal.
