Joyspan is life's best measure

CONNECTION: ‘BUILDS RESILIENCE, IMPROVES HEALTH’

- Hein Kaiser

We count our years. We track our steps. We measure cholesterol and productivity. There are apps for all of these but there's nothing that tracks joy.

Well, except perhaps an old chocolate advert with a gorilla drumming and taking a moment to find pure joy in their own happy noise. But, pause, take a moment and ask yourself how much for your own life is actually spent simply taking a moment, and experiencing joy.

There's a word for it now. It's called Joyspan and it refers to the amount of time in your life that is genuinely joyful.

Not just the absence of stress, but moments of satisfaction, connection, and lightness of being. Think of baby's first steps, when gaga became mama, or when you simply overachieved against all your own expectations. When someone gifted you something that you really wanted, or when giving gave you a joyful feeling.

There's nothing in formal science that defines Joyspan, but it's a ponytail word that's getting traction, because it's not something we can ignore, said medical doctor and psychologist Dr Jonathan Redelinghuys.