St. Patrick’s Day is widely known around the world as a day of leprechauns, four leaf clovers, wearing green, and the infamous pot of gold. Many of us celebrate with parades, pinching, and pubs (for ONLY the adults), and pondering whether or not rainbows really have precious metals at their presumed ends.  

The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is notorious for being impossible to find, as no such thing exists as far as we know it. After all, it seems there is no physical end to a rainbow, and when one feels they might’ve found it, it disappears, as does the chance to uncover the true reason this journey was happened upon in the first place- the precious pot of gold.

Looking past the literal and fantastical, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a goal that seems impossible to reach. Many of us find ourselves reaching for this goal, struggling to stay on the path that seems to never end without getting off track. Some of us don’t even know what we are struggling for, and what to do once we get there.

A few of us, however, have the luck of the Irish and know what they want and how to get there. But were they really born lucky, or are simply good at making decisions about what their limits are and what they know they will enjoy?

Teenagers in particular struggle with what their pot of gold is in life and how to find the rainbow’s end before it disappears. Ours is a time of decisions- what classes to take, what college we want to go to, what major we want to pursue, and how to cope with the struggle and pressures of school and grades that will lead us to our pot of gold- a successful and happy future, doing what we love.

However, we struggle with these decisions and sometimes need guidance to not get distracted by the many colors of the rainbow. Teens are at a point in their lives when they are still figuring out which direction their rainbows are in, much less what their pots of gold will be, wondering if they are destined to even have one, but knowing they want to get there eventually.

At such a hard time in our lives, we must learn to cope with our situation, to take a deep breath, slow down, organize our thoughts, and understand it is all going to be okay in the end, without giving in to the bright and tempting colors along our journey, possessing such things as peer pressure and substance abuse.

Because everyone has a pot of gold they deserve to find.

So skip the pub, enjoy that parade, and don’t forget that green shirt.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.