Holding Tight

It may be a real stretch of the imagination, but I was thinking about one thing, and it led to another thing I had been considering.
As is my custom I look at headlines and I saw that a senator had been assassinated in Cameroon.  I must confess that before today I did not know where that place was.  I could have had an educated guess, but that is all it would have been.
Turns out it is on the West coast of Africa.  It has a population of about 27 million.  It is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world.  Apparently, assassinations are a fairly regular occurrence.  I looked into all that this morning.  There was heaps of other stuff I found, but it was only because I looked it up.  It was all news to me.
It’s funny, but this afternoon I was considering a saying.  I was weighing it up and trying to see what I thought was true and how to put it succinctly.  “The best way to hold on is to let go.”
That got me thinking of Cameroon again.  I don’t know enough about things to have a sound opinion on Cameroon, but I did get the impression that those in power are feathering their own nest.  Most of the population seems to be paying a price.
I saw an inability to let go from their first President.  He stepped down but tried to remain in power by running the country behind the scenes until his successor and allies pressured him into resigning.  To me Mugabe in Zimbabwe did something similar.
I have mentioned before how someone gave me some  stamps and said, “hold them loosely.”  That has rung in my ears ever since.
Naturally I want to be rich and have all that is on offer, but to me that does not guarantee happiness.  I heard about a guy that was as rich as.  He had a beautiful home with an indoor pool.  But he was never home.  He was friends with his neighbour who really enjoyed the use of the pool and facilities.
It brings home to me big time that wealth is not built on what I possess but on what possesses me.  Like those in Cameroon I can hold on big time to things, despite the negative connotations for myself and others.  Or I can let go. 
I actually find liberty in letting go.  Often times I get back what I let go of, but it is different the second time round.  The second time is not a holding on as though my life depended on it.  It does not.  The opposite is true.   By holding on I am guaranteed to lose it, while letting go, is the only way I’ll find it.