Those who love us in life may choose to help us after their deaths, by acting as spirit guides for us. Recognizing that help can be difficult, especially if we expect communication to be definite and identifiable. A full body manifestation with spoken directives would be nice, but I doubt it happens that way very often.
For me, it's more often a sense of closeness to a person I've loved and lost to death, then a feeling of comfort as I think in a certain direction. I may have been stewing over a decision and at last feel the relief of knowing which direction I want to take. Along with that relief, I'll find myself thinking of Dad or another beloved person I've lost. Sometimes I'll have a thought, then realize that it sounds just like Dad or another good advisor I've lost. That's hardly conclusive, scientific evidence that such significant people are acting as my spirit guides, but I find this a positive experience.
With Cherokee heritage, I find it easy to accept the concept that beloved people in the spirit world choose to help us. Other philosophies than Native American ones also accept that spirits can choose to grow, doing their own soul work, by helping those of us still on the Earth Walk. I can use all the help I can get to cope with life, and I've felt the beneficial effects of holding this philosophy many times. It feels right and good. That's enough for me to ask for this guidance when I need it, to welcome it when it comes. The help I request has been given me often enough for me to accept its existence as more likely than not.
I've learned to listen to those thoughts that just appear in my mind without conscious lead-ins to them. I pay attention to "coincidence," questioning whether it's accidental or a guide's message. I listen to friends, who may speak the message for a guide at times. I pay attention to significant words I hear in songs or find in reading, especially when they unexpectedly fit a personal situation. It seems reasonable to assume that messages can come in many forms. I ask for help from my guides and then pay attention to possible messages.
Of course I don't blindly obey all messages, assuming they're from a spirit guide. Common sense applies to spirit work as much as any other area of life. I'm responsible for evaluating all input from all resources when I make choices. But why handicap myself by ignoring or discounting any input? It only makes sense to me to stay open to help from all possible sources.
Pat Cody