Spirit Guides: Good, Bad Or Just Mischievous

I've wondered a few times what the truth is regarding spirit guides and how they communicate with us. Are they there to give us information we need to hear on our life's journey or how much of it is suspect if not a joke(s) to be played on use humans? I ask if we just have one spirit guide or guardian angel that sticks with us for our lifetime or do several come and go as necessary?
 
As a young child I can remember having two imaginary friends. My maternal grandmother believed me or at least played along with my story. When I told my mom, she said to the effect there was no such thing in reality. So I put my imaginary friends behind me in the name of "growing up" but I wonder now if the two weren't so imaginary but in fact my spirit guides.
 
Are there ways of looking at how spirit guides communicate with us. One is when ideas that seem to pop up out of nowhere, remembering to contact someone, buy something at the store, phrases that come when writing and so on. I work nights part time, yet I haven't used an alarm clock in months. Is it my spirit guide waking me up or is it my internal clock working just fine?
 
Just how far do spirit guides go in helping us? Do they help out in the mundane aspects of daily life or do they assist us in broadening our horizons? I think it would be boring if their help was restricted to just day to day life. People would get numbed out if the days ran nto each other. Do people have a bigger purpose in life to fulfill other than just running chores and errands? If so, spirit guides could be there to remind us to break free of the limited thinking we put ourselves under. There is only two things in life to do; get busy living or get busy dying.
 
This is not to say bad things won't happen to a person. It's how you deal with it that counts. I reckon spirit guides are there to help a person not to live their lives for them. Messages will come to a person when needed but it is the responsibility that person to act upon them.
 
I like to think spirit guides are with a person from the moment of birth to the moment of death. I'd hate to see how negative our world would get if they weren't around.
 
Ron Murdock
ronmurdock73@yahoo.ca