Hollister Rand - Im Not Dead, Im Different: Kids in Spirit Teach Us About Living a Better Life on Earth

Wake up! I heard a voice shout.

So I did.

It was four oclock in the morning, still dark, and I was alone. At least, I thought I was alone. But I wasnt. There was a young man standing at the foot of my bed, a young man in spirit. He was fuzzy from the waist down, but there was a clear urgency in his eyes. I was startled, but not scared. This wasnt the first time that a spirit had stood at the foot of my bed. Somehow, though, I sensed that this was different. Wake up! he shouted again. I felt like shouting back, You already woke me up! but by then he was gone. Spirits like to get in the last word and this young spirits message, though brief, was important for me to hear.

Since that early morning visit, Ive come to understand that his call to wake up was more than just a summons to get out of bed. It was nothing short of a demand to be present, to live fully, to become aware of life in all its exuberanceto love despite the pain that comes with the separation we call death.

Its oddly ironic that I woke up to life because of a dead person. That encounter happened roughly twenty years ago. Ive learned a lot from the spirits since then, including how to listen to them during the daytime so that they dont announce themselves at night. More important, though, Ive been guided, directed, and outright pushed by those in spirit to give them a voice in this world.

As the above example demonstrates, there is a particularly vocal and insistent group living on the other sidethe young. For years, other mediums had noticed the entourage of kids and young adults that surrounded me. This struck us all as strange because I have no children of my own, in the physical sense anyway. Not having children made me wonder whether I was even qualified to speak to parents in grief. I was so convinced that this was a wrong choice on the spirits part that I asked them to use my talents in any way except for communicating messages from those who left life early. I was truly reluctant to accept their constant presence in my life and my work. No, no, no, I said. But the kids on the other side said, Yes, yes, yes! So I started to listen and, finally, learn from them. The love and hope theyve brought to their grieving families through my work as a medium has transformed lives one by oneincluding mine.

Now Im glad that they were persistent. Kids can really be relentless when they want something and this persistence doesnt diminish with death either. Thats one of the things I love about them.

In essence, kids in heaven have turned the tables on us. We might have thought that we were intended to teach them about life, protect them from the big, bad world, and turn the future over to them when were done here ourselves. But, in truth, theyre teaching us a few things.

The kids perspective on Life (with a capital L) is nothing short of transformational.

However, all of this life-changing talk can be tough for those of us on this side to take, especially if the loss is a recent one. So I hope that the way that Im presenting their messages in this book makes them all a little easier to understand and embrace.

Each chapter and subject is broken down into four parts:

SpiritTweets are brief but thought-provoking quotes from the mouths of young people in spirit. In the same way that kids on earth are enjoying new ways to stay in touch with their friends and loved ones at all times, kids in spirit are frequently finding ways to stay connected with us too. These sudden and often surprising messages are the spiritual equivalent of texting or twittering; however, spirit messages tend to be packed with a lot more meaning than earthly ones. A SpiritTweet, as presented in this book, can be a daily reminder for us to look at everyday life from a more heavenly perspective.

SpiritThoughts provide an expanded discussion of the chapters subject, including observations, thoughts, and stories about the spirits and people Ive met. This segment also offers insight into how my personal life and my work as a medium intersect and inform each other.

SpiritAnswers provide the complete 411 on FAQs. Wherever I go in the United States and around the world, I am often asked the same questions. Some of my favorites get answered here. (Maybe yours are among them.)

SpiritSummary A pithy synopsis of the chapters main points. Some people will come to this book looking for specific words of comfort, others for a more general understanding. Some will read it from cover to cover; others will home in on the answers to just their most pressing questions. Many will even revisit it later to be reminded of the words that spoke to them most profoundly. Whatever way you choose to approach this material, these summaries are designed to help guide your reading so it is a truly healing and empowering experience.

Finally, it might be assumed that because this book is about heavenly kids, that only someone who has lost a child will discover something of value in its pages, but please know that it is important to me, and to those whose messages I convey, that there is something of value for everyone in this book. It is our sincerest hope that these pages resonate strongly with those who have felt the loss of a young one directly, but we also hope and expect that countless other people will find meaning and answers here too.

In fact, a friend shared a story with me recently that reflects exactly why this book is such important reading for us all . When she first heard that her mother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age sixty-nine, she began sobbing. Mom, please dont die on me, she pleaded. With the grace and wisdom of age, her mother simply replied, Now Nancy, your father and I have had good livesweve lived to see our children grow up to be fine adults. I can die happy. These words, of course, reaffirm what we all know to be trueit doesnt matter whether ones kids are toddlers or in their sixties, no parent wants to outlive them. Losing our young is just not the natural order of things. But this story also reminds us of something else, something kids in spirit say to me all the time: everyone will outlive someone they love at some point in time. Thats just the way of life and death. Knowing more about how we live in the afterlife can help us change the way we look at death, and can potentially help us change the way we live our lives during our time here on earth too. Thats what the children of all ages in spirit talk about. And thats the message they want to share with us all today.

Every time I hear from a kid in spirit, Im profoundly touched. The young talk about life (and death) in such an open and honest way. No subject, including abortion and suicide, is taboo to them. They speak about the essentials of lifethe things that affect each and every one of us.

Im in awe of the way kids in spirit get right to the heart of the matter. Are we loved? If we are, why do we feel so alone sometimes? How can we get through loss and heartbreak (of any kind)?

We were all kids once, so hearing from these young ones reminds us of what it is like to feel invincible (and yet not to be). Theyve already gotten to the place where were all going, so they have lots to tell us about what to expect there.

What can kids tell us about the afterlife that would help us live a better life here on earth? The answer is plenty.

I have witnessed it time and againyoung people living in spirit have a unique ability to deliver wisdom with humor and a lightness that can illuminate the path for all of us.