Are You an Instant Angel?

In heaven an angel is nobody in particular. George Bernard Shaw

You don’t have to be an angel, just be someone who can give. Patti LaBelle

Everyone needs an angel now and then. Not necessarily the kinds of angels that float down from heaven. No, the angels we need are the people who turn up just at the moment we need them. Susan called these people Instant Angels.

In Life Is Huge!, Susan describes a time she was helped by an Instant Angel when she nearly drove off a cliff in a rainstorm. Her car was stalled, then out of the blue, a tow truck driver arrived to pull her car to safety. While most of us aren’t going to experience such a dramatic entrance of an angel, we can probably think of a time or two (or three) when someone stepped in to help us when we had a great need.

We, too, can be Instant Angels to other people. When we step up to help those in need—helping to pay for someone’s groceries or dropping your plans to be with a friend in crisis, whether helping a sick relative or helping a stranger find their car in a parking lot, whether we have time to schedule it or if we do it off the cuff— we are connecting with our Higher Self.

I have chosen to believe that we can all be ‘used’
by that same Universal Energy to serve as Instant Angels for others.

When we become an Instant Angel to someone else, when we give willingly and gratefully, we are truly stepping into the light of the universe. As Susan wrote, “I propose that from this moment on we embrace the role of Instant Angels and, on impulse—or with great forethought—we step in to do things for others who need our help. I can promise you a heavenly result, a feeling of joy like none else. And when someone says to you, ‘Thank you so much. You’re such an Angel,’ you can bask in the glory that you truly are.”

In order to be able to be an Instant Angel, we need to step out of our “me me me” attitude of getting and focus on giving. Susan advised, “You will be a far happier person if your question is ‘What am I going to give?’ instead of ‘What am I going to get?’”

Once you decide that you will let in the Universal Energy and be a conduit for giving, you might be thinking, “What have I got to give?” The real question is, “What don’t I have to give?”

While there are opportunities for each of us to be an Instant Angel all year long, there are even more chances during the holiday season. At this time of year, people are feeling stressed, desperate, and lonely, which give us so many opportunities to help others.

“Remember that the enjoyment of the holidays begins and ends with caring, sharing, having compassion for others, and radiating love,” Susan wrote. This means that when we open up our hearts ready to embrace the world, there is nothing that we can’t give. You read that right. Giving is about so much more than spending money. There are opportunities aplenty to be an Angel. Volunteer opportunities—such as working in a food kitchen or distributing toys or visiting with the elderly—as well as donation opportunities … there are  too many to be named.

But to be an Instant Angel, where you are truly in line with your Higher Self and the Universal Energy, you need to be open to helping whenever you find someone in distress. The important thing is to be welcoming to any opportunity that comes your way. Not taking the time or making the effort to give when the opportunity arises is simply Lower Self behavior.

Open your heart and arms to welcome opportunities to be an Instant Angel, knowing that you are a conduit for the good of the Universal Energy. Susan said it best, “Yes, all of us can become Instant Angels as we step in to ‘rescue’ others who need our help. When we do, it’s as though the Light of a Higher Power comes shining right through us. And as many of you may have already discovered, the feeling is Divine.”