Second Part of Billy Mills' Journeys

In the second part of the movie, Billy communicates with his ​​sister letting her know that he is the only young Indian around the campus, passing many hours of study, but he told her not to worry because he would make them proud of his achievements. In a particular moment of the plot, the coach asks Mills: "What do you want? What's your dream?" To which Billy replied, that his dream was to someday win the Olympics, and the coach replied: "You have the legs and lungs". He also told Billy to allow him to be his trainer and he could be sure that he would achieve his dream of being part of the Olympics.

Although he was humiliated, Billy Mills, always stood up for himself. In one of the competitions a reporter asked him: “What is next? Olympics?” To which he replied that he did not know, maybe international. We know which was the biggest dream of Mills, the one  he wanted the most.

Mills met a girl, but her parents did not like him because he was Indian. Billy was in love with her, he told his sister he wanted to marry this girl. Even Eddy and Frank, friends of Billy, went to visit him in his new home. They were not comfortable; therefore they felt that they did not belong in that place. Once past this situation, Mills begins to loose races and he had already given up on himself. In one of the races, Billy had a discussion with his coach and left the stadium. This situation makes him return to his place of origin with his people. All of these problems occurring around him affected him emotionally, because he knew what he wanted, but dealing with all of this was so difficult for him.

Just before the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, Billy said that dreams should not stay in a dream, we need to try to make them happen. Billy represented the USA, and the event in which he participated was 10,000 meters. It was a real surprise, because Mills kept going faster and faster, he was focusing on what he was doing. He was in first position but had occasions where other runners would pass him by. Once again Billy proceeded, but other runners pushed him and this would cause him to loose the race. There was little time left for the competition to culminate, Billy Mills got the strength to finish and was the champion. I wonder what things and thoughts, perhaps memories  went through his mind when all this happened.

One more time we see how this guy faced problems on the outside that he had to overcome. He did not let himself give up and therefore he achieved his dream, winning the Olympics. This should serve as a teaching and learning to trust and believe in ourselves, no matter the circumstances that are ahead of us that prevent us from moving forward. If you have a dream, be brave, trust yourself and go for it.

Internal and External Journey of Billy Mills

As a brief introduction, Billy Mills is a runner athlete who had many setbacks during his lifetime, but in the end he became the surprise winner of a gold at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964, completing a 10,000 meter race. Keeping in mind that when we said external journeys we refer to it as anything that affects our surrounding, in one way or another involved with our internal journey and connect with the thoughts that come from a type of conflict, like trying to understand things and deal with them in a better way.

We can compare the life of Billy Mills with the situations that happen daily in our life, and sometimes are beyond our control. At an early age, Mills was an orphan and at an early stage of his life, he was exposed to emotional abuse known as bullying. An example of this is that once Billy Mills enters the University of Kansas his roommate was a boy who already had a problem with him. This is a situation that is uncomfortable.

In one of his competition at the University was also the faster athlete. Our mind is powerful, and occasionally we do not trust in our ability and skills. Sometimes he doubts in himself and wants to give up the dream of his life. For these things are influencing both the external with the internal. He also had memories of his father telling him that he is a young indian boy and because of that he is already marginalized. We consider this as racism. The other students in the University talking about him with nicknames because of his nacionality. And the other students of the University did not allow him to participate in the fraternity activities. Despite of being a humble person, he gave his best to prove he was the best runner.

Regarding with the adversities that Mills passed, I think this helps us to make a close comparison with the situations faced by young people today: rejection, racism and humiliation. At the end, all the problems on his external journey, show us that he is a brave person, able to trust himself, and handle everything on the outside that maybe did not allow him to move forward, becoming a winner.