Melinda Mahaffey: Writings

Spirit, January 2007
Blessings Counted
Howie Mandel counts his for us
By Melinda Mahaffey

1.) DEAL OR NO DEAL People usually come up to me in airports and ask, "Deal or no Deal?" and I don't know what to say. It's a question, and I usually don't have an answer right then. But I am so proud that the phrase has become part of the fabric of people's vocabulary.

2.) THE WIFE THe only reason I am on this show is because of her. I turned it down three times! She's bright, funny, smart, and not enough people know that.

3.) THREE CHILDREN Children, can't live with them, can't live without them. But it's more their issues than mine. Like my 14-year old. I have to drop her off seven blocks away because God forbid, someone should see her with her dad. I love them, but it can be hard to be with them.

4.) THERAPY Three letters that define me: O.C.D. When you don't see me live, or on T.V., or when I'm with my family, I'm in therapy. It's a constant journey, and one that's all about ritual. I'm obsessive, I'm compulsive, and it's a disorder.

5.) GUILT Guilt is a great fuel for everything you do. I live in a plane and I feel guilty about not spending enough time with my family. I want to do everything for my kids and feel guilty that I am not doing enough.

6.) TV I live for TV. I watch it 24-7, everything from comedy to dramatic Japanese soap operas to the Home Shopping Network. I even sleep with the TV on - if someone turns it off in the middle of the night, I will actually wake up.

7.) PRIVACY I believe in doing charity quietly, and not having it be written about. The definition of charity is giving for the purpose of helping others - not so others will think I am a better person.

8.) AMATEUR NIGHT My philosophy, taken from Nike's: Just Do It. There is more opportunity available to everyone - all the time - than we recognize. One amateur night, I just got up on stage. What was supposed to be a fun, humiliating event to entertain me and my friends turned into a life-changing, career-changing opportunity. At the time, I was in the carpet business in Toronto. Actually, it was just the next thing on the rolodex - carpet, comedy - alphabetically.

9.) PINK FLOYD My favorite piece of music is Dark Side of the Moon. It's eclectic, surprising, beautiful, happy, such a range of things. I've never gotten the Wizard of Oz connection though. You must have to be smoking something to see it - and I haven't.