Life sucks from time to time. Sometimes it is painful, frustrating, and generally unenjoyable. What keeps people going? Hopefully the understanding that things will get better, that the pain is part of the natural process to help us enjoy the pleasure. This is very difficult to see while in the situation, but it is important to realize that challenges, although painful, are the only things that help us grow. If we have no challenges, we atrophy.
Perhaps this is why many people after retirement notice a marked decrease in healthiness - they kind of let themselves relax too much and thereby atrophy to a certain degree.
