One of the questions I get asked all the time is, "Are there really guardian angels?" This feels like a simple question to answer, but at the same time I totally understand why people might be doubtful about the existence of their guardians. For you see, as an adult, accepting that someone divine has your back kinda feels like admitting you have an imaginary friend.

Now, don't get me wrong—I am totally down with invisible friends at any age. But, I can see how some adults might not want to say this out loud. And the truth is that working with our angels and guides is a lot like having an invisible friend. One that only we can see, feel, hear, or, for some, just know they are around. This is one of the main reasons I wrote Year of Angel Guidance—to get more people comfortable with working with their personal guardians.

When I got the idea for this book I was very lucky to have 12 angels jump up and say they wanted to be the general guardians for the collective. You will have other guardians that I do not touch on, but the 12 you will find in the pages of my book are the ones who stepped forward and said, "Hey pick me, I want to play with the humans!!!" Something to know about all the angels: they LOVE working, playing, laughing, dancing, and even crying with us. However they can assist, they will be there, just like a good friend.

These new friends just want to give you a little helping hand as you make your way through the calendar year. You see, the angels understand that sometimes just a little guidance, structure, and support can make a year seem less like a chore and more like a blessing. I don't know about you, dear reader, but I am always up for more blessings—which means the more help I can get in this department, the better.

The great thing about guardian angels is that they specialize in all the little day-to-day parts of our human lives. I like to think of them as my personal angelic virtual assistants, AVA for short, who work behind the scenes to make sure I am always on track to experiencing my highest and greatest good. Just like a good friend. As someone who has a real, live VA (virtual assistant), these sorts of caretakers, cheerleaders, and helpers will dramatically change your life. There is, however, one small catch: you have to allow them to do the things that make your day easier.

Therapist and friendship researcher Miriam Kirmayer said in an interview, "Over time, it gets harder for adults to form meaningful friendships." We lose trust, we get busy, we get set in our ways, and before we know it asking for help just gets more and more difficult. So I totally get it if you find it weird or strange to be asking your guardian angels for assistance. When I first started working with my VA over 10 years ago now, I also noticed how strange it was to delegate tasks and trust that they would be done. It took a long time to make this a new normal habit. But now I can not function without my VA, just like I don't know how to make it through the day without my angelic guardians.

Sometimes it's not even a task we need help with. Sometimes it's just getting ourselves into a feeling place. A place where we sink into a feeling of gratitude or peace. This has actually become one of my personal ways to work with the guardians, to ask them to assist me to "feel" a certain way as I move through my day. Throughout my book, A Year of Angel Guidance, you will find daily prompts and suggestions on how you can also ask for this support. It doesn't have to be a big deal, just simply say, "Guardian angel, I would like to feel a sense of calm as I move through this very busy day." Or, "Thank you AVAs for making my day flow with such joy and ease."

But remember, in order for this new relationship to work you have to allow the guardians to help you. At some point you have to trust these beautiful, loving beings to bring their special blend of magic into your life. One thing I have learned from the angels is that how they work is very different from how we humans work. You see, we, you and I, have an ego. The ego likes order, which makes it limit the options that it feels are available to you. The guardians dont have this narrow view, for where the ego sees only one way, the angels see multiple. This means that the guardians are going to bring things into your life you could never imagine. They will also organize your day in a way that your ego-logical-mind would never consider. Their magic is made powerful by the amount of trust you give them.

Let's take a closer look at how you might be able to sink into more allowing and move away from all the doing. You see, if you are going to get the most out of A Year of Angel Guidance, you are going to need to start this "allowing" process. Let's start with something super simple: parking spaces. Yes, I know, people talk about this all the time. But there is a reason people talk about finding the perfect parking space all the time: because it is the one thing in your life that has the least piece of resistance. I like to consider myself the queen of parking. I live in the desert and I always want shade for my car, which is often hard to find. I always ask my angelic guardians to find me the best spot and they always do, without fail, every single time. My wife, on the other hand, geez, she has the worst parking space energy in the world. She can never find shade and always ends up in one of the heaviest traffic areas of the parking lot. My wife never uses her guardian angels to help her with parking, even though she has clear evidence in her life that it works.

If you do not drive or don't have a car, then find something else in your life that has little to no resistance around it. Maybe it is not waiting in a long line at your local cafe. Or perhaps getting to the bus stop just as the bus is pulling up so you never have to wait. There are thousands of small moments in a day where your resistance to help is lower and you are more willing to ask for help just to see what happens. Once you have played with this simple "allowing" exercise for a couple of weeks, you will be ready to move on to the book and start your journey with the guardians of the calendar year. Remember, the guardians only want to make your life more enjoyable, intentional, and graceful. The more you trust these new invisible friends, the more magic you will start to experience. Start small, follow the prompts, and open your heart to new friendships, a forever cheerleader, and divine support.

Do your best to have some fun when working with your guardian angels. Do not be too serious, even if and when you are dealing with serious matters. That might seem weird, but you will notice that if you untangle the pressure from your tasks and ask for a fun way to feel peaceful or even neutral the easier it will be. Now, if you can't relax (or if you are like me and suffer from pretty intense anxiety) do not be dismayed. Even in the worst panic attack I have asked the guardians to help me by lighting the energy and weaving in fun energy. Sometimes this manifests in me instantly thinking about something comical, and just ever-so-slightly I unwind enough to move my body and get the anxious charge out of my system. Fun doesn't always mean belly laughs and carefree frivolity—it can just be a crack or glimmer of light in a very dark place.

I hope you have enjoyed learning more about your invisible friends, aka your guardian angels. I know they are excited to spend a whole year with you. They love you so much. To them, you are the most important person in the world. May your journey with them be the adventure of a lifetime!