Do you instantly know when you have stepped off the life path that feels right? I know I do.

When you have missed an opportunity to help another person or animal or missed the chance to fulfill your life purpose, there is no comfort or inner peace.

Your soul hurts. Maybe that is when your guardian angel comes to you — to touch you, turn you around and put you back on the right path.

Many people I’ve talked with said they believe their celestial help and comfort comes in the form of a human messenger. Who appoints this lifetime guardian?

It seems to me maybe it is easier for us to connect with and feel close to another human than to recognize and be helped by a genderless guardian angel.

It even seems to be because your guardian angel’s sole purpose is to make you the safest, the happiest, the most purpose driven, so why would it not choose another human being to guide you your whole life?

One of the people I talked with said she was sure her mother was her celestial messenger, sent by her angel to always take care of her. In fact, her mother acknowledged being her guardian angel in human form.

Then there was a 30-year-old lady. I saw her as a warm affectionate gal. When I asked her if she believed in guardian angels she was very passionate in her answer. 

“Oh, yes! I’m very connected with my angel. He (and it is a male) always comes to me at night. I believe sometimes I’m even dreaming the meeting between us,” she said. “It goes on all night sometimes. Our meetings are like the warmest, sweetest embrace that lasts all day long until we meet again. He leads my life.”

And, you know what? Since she works here at Brookdale I see her a lot and I honestly see that Godly embrace around her.

Then I asked an 80-year-old man if he believes in the existence of guardian angels. He sort of snorted, turned his head away from me and assured me he didn’t even believe in a god much less an angel.

A woman I spoke with said at one point in her life, after her divorce, she desperately tried to connect with her guardian angel. She said, after all, she used to believe in God.

“Well He failed me,” she said. “No more Jean.”

I left her sitting in her recliner angry and feeling alone. I definitely listened to the next woman. I knew her as deeply spiritual.

“I believe there are angels all around us,” she said. “It is personal and sacred. All the people I’ve loved and have passed have left their spirit in me. I am the accumulation of all of them. But my guardian angel will be Bev. She knew me the longest and the best, and when she died, I knew she left her spirit in me. When I need her, she, Bev, will appear as my guardian angel forever.”

I could go on and on. The study has solidified my own beliefs for which I am so grateful.

I believe we are not alone in this life.

Maybe we have to work at listening with our hearts, thinking with an open mind.

If we are not ready to realize the fact that our soul truly is connected to our higher being, we may not recognize our guardian angel when it appears to help and love us.

I also now believe God has already given us our angels and wants us to recognize it and use it in our life guide.

If we believe we are not alone, ever, and that a celestial being or its messenger will keep us on the godly path, our life changes and deepens.

Our words will reflect the new inspiration your soul now knows.

“I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind, but now I see.”

The view from the mountain is wondrous.

Jean Brody is a passionate animal lover and mother. She previously lived in Winchester, but now resides in Littleton, Colorado. Her column has appeared in the Sun for more than 25 years.