Watching The View

1. Family comes first
Even though she had great success with The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Rosie left television in 2002 to spend more time with her family. The daily pressures of her own talk show became too much as she felt she was missing out on things in her children’s lives. She wanted to be able to pick her kids up from school and the other little things that working parents sometimes miss out on. After her tumultuous season on The View, she decided not to renew her contract, in large part do to her family. Whatever you may believe to be the “real reason” that she left the show, don’t discount the opinions of her wife and children. Rosie said that her family needs her to be happy and the stresses of The View were making her unhappy. Rather than put herself, and her family, through another stressful three years (what ABC offered her, she only wanted one year) she decided to leave.

2. Be charitable, yet humble
Despite the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is reported to have given away millions of dollars to charity, it is not publicized. While other celebrities send out press releases with every $50,000 donation, Rosie remains silent and refuses to disclose just how much she has given. She has a lot of causes that she believes in and she really puts her money where her mouth is. In addition to giving away her own money, she also participates in numerous charity ventures, including raising money for her foundation, as well as often serving as auctioneer at a variety of benefits. Throughout all of her generous giving, she does not feel the need to flaunt the fact that she is being so charitable, which is what true charity is all about.


3. Leave them wanting more
Both with The Rosie O’Donnell Show and The View, Rosie left at the top of her game. In both instances, the studio wanted her to stay and she likely could have had continued success on both shows. Although Rosie has many critics after the controversy she stirred up on The View, her presence also sky-rocketed the ratings. Additionally, she still has an abundance of fans and anyone who doubts that need only spend a few moments reading through all of the messages to Rosie on her blog. By leaving The View after only a year, she remains a hot commodity. Reports have several networks interested in her for her own show, as well as other possible projects in the works. Rather than remain on the show another three years, as offered by ABC, she decided to leave and do something more meaningful, and less stressful, to her. With her exposure from The View, she now has more opportunities available to her so that she can accomplish her goals.

4. Be yourself even though some people won’t like you
When Rosie was on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, she was dubbed “The Queen of Nice.” Although she has since said that the nickname never fit her, it was an appropriate title as she “made nice” with all the guests and rarely said a bad word about anyone. There were glimpses of the real Rosie in those days, like when she demanded that guest Tom Selleck defend his membership in the NRA, but for the most part she overly nice. It is possible that trying to be so sweet wore her down and contributed to her ending her show. When Rosie reappeared on The View, many people said that she had changed. What really happened, however, is that Rosie was finally being herself. She was opinionated. She was political. She was loud. She wanted her voice heard. All of these things make people notice you. When more people notice you, more people are bound to dislike you. Although she had an easier time of it on her first show, not having to deal with Fox News dissecting her every word, Rosie had to feel a sense of relief when she was finally able to be herself on The View.

5. You need to find a positive outlet to release your stress
If Rosie O’Donnell did not have her photography and artwork to help her cope with all that is wrong with this world, Elisabeth Hasselbeck would have had even more arguments to contend with on The View. Rosie said that when the pressure of television and celebrity life gets to be too much, she retreats to her craft room, cranks up the music, and paints, makes collages or does other crafts. She said that she has hundreds of pieces completed and the more stressed out her life becomes, the more artwork she produces.

This post is part of the group writing project at Problogger. Visit Problogger to see read other writer’s top five lists.

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