Despite these Billy Joel lyrics being more than 40 years old, they feel like an anthem for what we’re living through now. The world remains unsettled, and it will be that way for some time to come. That’s a given. We will remain engaged on the front lines of multiple battles – against deadly disease, political and economic turbulence, climate emergency and more.

In 1995, Mr Joel explained what inspired him to write Summer Highland Falls. Remarking that “life wasn’t as simple as it used to be” – he recognized change was always brewing but it’s more about how we navigate the feelings they surface. Wise folks over the years counsel that to hold joy and satisfaction in life, even while enduring in the present, it’s more important to pursue the relationships we wish to nurture, the faith with which we treasure them and the service we give to others.

With this advice in mind, citizens, workers, colleagues, leaders alike have a generational responsibility (and privilege) to live those lessons and Be that Difference.