There is so much that we need to forget about what some people have said and just have faith in God and quit looking for some worse time to come. There are people right now in the world that are, or are going through tribulation that to them is like never was or never will be like this in the world. But because it is written like this in Matthew we continue to look for something worse.
Common people this time Jesus was talking about happened in most of the peoples life time that lived then. In the first century when Jerusalem was sacked.
What we need to get in our minds is what the bible was written for. That it was a history of a people that Christ would come to earth through, to bring the good news that the Kingdom of God was come to earth for all people, not just the Jew or Israelite.
The story of the bible was not about tribulation to come. But about Jesus coming to earth to bring the whole world salvation.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
We need to be about continuing to spread the good news of God's kingdom and to live the life that Jesus taught about in the gospels to love God and love your neighbor as ourselves.