I think what well meaning people who say "Life is what you make it" mean is, that once you get past all the fears and discouragement and whatnot we all deal with, then we can potentially make better things (with effort). Of course, some people probably don't mean so well when they say that, and I defend myself from that nowadays by silently thinking "I'd like to tell you to shut up and hand you a book on Psychology 101, but I think I'll just avoid the drama for now. Kthxbye."

And yes, I have struggled lately with fears that things won't get better - up to and including feelings of crushing despair and nightmares. It's so draining. I have to keep telling myself not to feed into my own fears.