Controlling Your Destiny

This is the story of Nobunaga, a legendary Japanese warrior. As the story goes, he was leading a force into battle against an enemy that was many times the size of his force; legend holds that his enemy fielded ten times the men he did. His followers were convinced they were marching to their death that day. Nobunaga believed in his cause, his men, and, most importantly, his destiny, and therefore, he believed he would win the day.

As they approached the battlefield, he had the army stop at a temple. He announced that he would enter the temple and pray for victory. When he emerged, he would flip a coin in the air for luck and to decide the outcome. If the coin came up heads, they would surely win the day. If it turned up tails, it meant they were destined to lose and he would lead the men away from the forewarned defeat. His men agreed to this.

Nobunaga entered the temple and prayed for a long time. When he emerged, he pulled a coin from his pocket and tossed it high in the air. It flipped and turned many times, but when it landed, it had come up heads. The soldiers all cheered and followed Nobunaga into battle where they easily defeated the overwhelming odds and routed the enemy from the field.

Later, after the battle, an aide questioning Nobunaga about his strategy, remarking that he had taken a big chance tossing the coin, as it could have just as easily came up tails. Nobunaga replied, "Man controls his own destiny, regardless of the circumstances or the odds. All he needs to do is keep going." With that he pulled the coin from his pocket and tossed the doubled headed disc to his aide as he walked away.