The 5+5 Rule is Good for your Health

What is the 5+5 Rule?

My aunt Ivy Chaske, from the Lakota (Sioux) Nation, cultural advisor, mother, grandmother, and a direct descendant of Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) shared with me a powerful story about how to approach the education of children. It is the 5+5 rule. It was taught to her by her maternal grandmother. It uses basic math concepts of addition with positive and negative numbers. Remember elementary school math?

• If we see a child as having 5 deficiencies in learning and proceed to teach her 5 new skills, we are left at the end of the learning process with 0 achievements.
• If we see a child as having 0 deficiencies in learning and proceed to teach her 5 new skills, we are left at the end of the learning process with 5 achievements. This is a step up for the child.
• If we see a child as having 5 abilities in learning and proceed to teach her 5 new skills, we are left at the end of the learning process with 10 achievements. The child learns effectively in this environment because we acknowledge her previous abilities.

I try to approach the managing of my multiple health conditions in the same way. For example, when I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease I was overwhelmed and scared. I worried that I would not be able to deal with it emotionally and mentally. But I thought about the 5+5 rule. I realized that I had some skills I use with coping with my Type 1 Diabetes that I could use in dealing with my newly diagnosed Celiac Disease. And the new skills I would learn to deal with Celiac Disease would add more. It gave me breathing room to learn.

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