Excuse me for asking this but do you really mean to say, "looking for a ray of light that improves their lives", or might "looking for a ray of light that improves their outlook on the future", be closer to what you actually mean.

I'm asking this because in my personal case it's not the now that causes me anxiety (took me two minutes to get anxiety close enough for spell checker to recognize it, grrrrr) but to some extent the anticipation of the tough times ahead. I suppose we really should be excited that some tough times are ahead. We can come out the other side until we start in on the journey.