South Carolina: Halfway Underwater but Not Fully Overwhelmed

South Carolina has been an embarrassment and an eyesore financially and socially for years. This year, however, the state has progressed and come together during tough critical times.

Currently, the state is flooded from Columbia on down near Charleston due to dams splitting near two major rivers in the wake of Hurricane Jocquin.

You see on the news often that when this type of natural disaster occurs, there are riots, looting and all out violence. Here in South Carolina, the residents have really come together and helped each other. Several legitimate clothing and food drives have been formed, law enforcement and government officials, including the National Guard, have worked around the clock during this crisis.

The University of South Carolina was playing LSU this week in football. Due to the floods, the game was moved to LSU's home stadium. The residents and fans of LSU were very nice and hospitable as well, even playing a lot of South Carolina fight songs and music during the game.

It appears the country has noticed how this state bands together instead of dividing. This was demonstrated during the summer with the Dylann Roof massacre. We don't always see eye to eye on certain issues, and seem to be stuck in olden times too often. However when you look around, you are hard pressed to find a state that will look out for its fellow resident and offer a helping hand.

I was becoming ashamed to be a South Carolina native and resident. Over the past few years, my faith has been restored. Good job to all of SC!

From Rachel Dolezal to Dylann Roof: How Well Do You Really Know Those Around You?

There has been much soul searching and questioning of character over the last few weeks in the wake of fraud and tragedy. I am of course writing about the media elephants in Rachel Dolezal and Dylann Roof. Rachel had people fooled for nearly two decades, and Dylann didn't really have anyone fooled.

Let's discuss something different than the obvious racial tension these separate incidents have incited. Another issue here is a common one: how well do you REALLY know someone? Rachel had an entire organization fooled for far too long. Roof really wasn't trying to deceive anyone, he simply flew under the radar.

This type of character deception occurs everyday. You rarely ever know what a person is really like until you look deep down inside and use intuition and discernment to evaluate them. There is a reason we deal with the folks we deal with daily. Many we are required to, some we choose to. People do change, but more often than not they are still the same overall.

Watch your circle carefully. Someone , even a long time friend or family member, could be masking someone or their true feelings about you. It happens all the time, but is rarely seen.

This is not to say be overly cautious or paranoid. Simply use proper judgment when dealing with people, remember they are human, and accept them for who they are, and recognize who they aren't.

How have you been deceived in your past by a fake image or person? Do you believe that certain situations and scenarios always reveal an ugly side to a person?