We have long used the question, “What’s in your house” to not only discover what is currently available for use if seen differently, but to reveal what doesn’t need to be in our house and can be discarded or moved along to another.

In the first glorious warm days of spring I was in our yard cleaning up after winter. It’s a new property for us, having lived here for less than year, and big enough for me to be finding areas and things in the yard I didn’t know were there, so I was thinking, “What’s in your yard?”

As I cleaned and visited the yard I discovered both trash and treasure, and was reminded how accurately the symbols in our lives tell us about mental lives too.

First the treasure: I was watching a gardening show where the property was completely paved in moss. It was glorious. I ventured out into our property thinking how wonderful it would be to have it completely paved in moss, but I couldn’t see how that could happen without years of work because I hadn’t previously seen any moss. I obviously wasn’t looking before, because when I cleared away the debris and leaf accumulation I discovered moss everywhere.

It felt as wonderful to me as if I had uncovered a pot of gold. Right under our feet the whole time was exactly what we wanted, already provided.

Then the trash: our property drops off into banks and slopes so that when you are in the house or the lawn (soon to be garden and moss) you can’t see what is there. The previous owners of our home must have thought that if they couldn’t see the trash, it didn’t exist.

In my first small clean-up with my granddaughter we discovered the smashed remains of a garden gnome tossed over the bank into the stream. The week before we moved in Mr. Gnome was sitting at the garage door. Instead of moving it, they trashed it.

That was just the beginning of what we have found.

What were they thinking? That it was out of sight and therefore didn’t exist? That no one else could see it since they couldn’t? Of course this sounds absurd because sooner or later it will be discovered, and we will all know who put the trash there.

But isn’t this exactly what we do with our own thinking? First the treasures that we are and do are hidden to us if we don’t look for them, but others may see them clearly. Then the trash, or mist-perceptions, of our thinking that have been “tossed over the bank” may be hidden from our sight, but certainly not to others who are paying attention. Like the trash in our backyard it still affects our lives.

Hidden treasures are a delight to unearth. Trash may not be. But, just because it is out of sight it is not out of mind. Trash thoughts and ideas are running our lives even more surely than trash is polluting our earth, because they are the hidden perceptions that filter information and blind us to what is really going on.

We all know how to clean our yard, but what about our thinking? How do we discover the trash and treasure, and then, how do we know the difference?

It begins by stating the intent and premise of our search. For example; our intent may be to live in and experience the beauty of omnipresent Love which is evidenced in overflowing supply of all that we need from love, food, money, time, space etc. To experience this intent our premise will be, “Love is omnipotent and omnipresent good is the obvious outcome of omnipotent Love.”

As we remain in an intent and premise based on omnipresent good, what is treasure and trash becomes obvious and is clearly seen; just as when I worked in the yard with the intent and premise of underlying present beauty, the treasure and the trash became evident that was hidden to me before.

Beginning with the correct premise before trash and treasure hunting is imperative. If we begin looking within the context and premise that everything is terrible and wrong, we are standing in trash to begin with, and when we find more, which we will, it will not be a cause for celebration, but a validation of a trash viewpoint.

What will we get? More trash. Treasure will elude us because we will be blind to its presence and soon life feels as if we are trapped in a dumpster and being buried by trash.

Beginning with the premise of omnipresent good both treasure and trash will be uncovered. We will know where to toss the trash, and we will be clearly aware of the treasure we have found that has always been present for our use and enjoyment.

Trash thinking is a popular pursuit. We are even competitive about who has the most trash in our lives. Don’t be trapped in trash! We live in a thought universe. We are in charge of what we say and think, and missing what omnipresent good has already provided for us because of trashing thinking is beyond silly.

Why not be treasure hunter and treasure talker? Things don’t have to get bad to get better. They were never bad, just our awareness and perception was misplaced. Becoming aware of the ever present Principle of Love we quickly escape the dumpster. Why not lead the way out of trash talking, because after all, people are following you. Why not lead them to the treasure and experience for yourself the Truth of omnipresent good.

A treasure hunter goes looking for treasure because he expects to find it. Expect to find the treasure in your life and you will discover what has been waiting for you all along. Throw out the trash as you search and you will experience, without doubt, guaranteed, that you are wealthy in all ways and always have been.

Author's Bio: 

As an author and speaker Beca Lewis, teaches her powerful, proven system of The Shift® through her writing, courses, workshops, master minds, life coaching, seminars and retreats.

Her life is dedicated to bringing Universal Spiritual Principles and Laws into clear focus, to shift material perception to spiritual perception, which following the law "what you perceive to be reality magnifies," adjusts lives with practical and measurable results.

She has been teaching others how to use The Shift® System in their daily life for over 30 years.

Beca is the author of numerous books and articles, including A Woman’s ABC’s of Life: Lessons in Love, Life and Career from Those Who Learned The Hard Way. Her book Living in Grace: The Shift to Spiritual Perception outlines her complete system of The Shift®.