I recently heard in a shiur that if one looks at todays generation and all the bad, he should also realize that we are in the time of Mashiach, and we are doing the last bit of kaparah before Mashiach can come, so everything is “stuffed” into a shorter time.
My life personally definitely strengthened my connection with Hashem. And I learned that someone could be going through something very hard and no one will know anything. Judging accomplishes nothing.