Rachel Grunwell: Rise above bullying

Rotorua-born Rachel Grunwell has a new book Balance

Here's to all the people out there who have turned their backs on bullies and never let them break their bloody spirit.

My book (Balance: Food, Health + Happiness) has recently launched out into the world and is now in bookshops nationwide and via AmazonUK.

But I'll let you in on a secret. My dream to release this book almost never happened.

While I was writing it over the past two years, I was bullied for a bit. Some girls didn't like me putting myself "out there" as a magazine writer, blogger and having a presence on social media.

The bullying made me fall down to my knees, feel hurt and this crushed my confidence. I considered their views and faded into the background for months.

But then I spoke to some friends and they told me to ignore the negativity. They reckoned it was classic tall poppy syndrome.

My friends advised me to not give a stuff about mean girls ... I simply hadn't done anything out of turn. They backed me to just continue being myself.

So I decided to shine bright instead of fading into the background.

If you are bullied at any time, I encourage you to reach out to soul sisters who back you, and care how you are doing, and who will help you to rise above this to be your best.

In my book Balance, 30 global experts share health, happiness and resilience expertise.
There's also advice around how to be emotionally resilient from one of New Zealand's top businesswomen, Theresa Gattung.

She shares how she dealt with bullying in the workplace, how she handled The Queen Bee Syndrome ... and she shares advice too on how to pick yourself up when you emotionally fall down through tough life struggles.

Her courage in sharing this wellness wisdom is gold and a must-read. I'm so grateful she was brave enough to be raw, real and vulnerable so it can help other people.

Meanwhile, as my book spreads successfully out into the world, I'm bloody proud of myself too for having some staunch resilience.

I'm grateful too for my friends who helped me rise above it. I hope this inspires someone else to rise above bullying so they can achieve their dream too. And please help support friends who are going through a tough time; your support really matters.

PS, Theresa and I both went to school in Rotorua - a place that didn't suffer from too much BS. Here's to being from the Bay of Plenty. I think that background surely helped me to be strong.

- Rachel Grunwell is a wellness expert. Order her book Balance: Food, Health + Happiness via inspiredhealth.co.nz. Follow Rachel on Instagram (@rachelgrunwell) or InspiredHealthNZ's Facebook (InspiredHealthNZ).