In the beginning of Parshas Noach, Rash"i brings that some stress the praise of Noach that he was a tzadik even in his [lowly] generation and had he lived in Avrohom Avinu's generation he would have been so much greater. Other stress the weakness of Noach, that only in his lowly generation was he considered a tzadik, but had he been in the days of Avrohom Avinu, he would have been a nobody.
Rav Pam ZT"L asked, it is easy to understand why someone would say good things about Noach, but why would someone want to make a big deal about his shortcomings and weaknesses? (He added parenthetically that some people are not bothered by this question, but that itself is a problem.) In fact, in this week's Parsha, Chaza"l learn that one should not talk about the short coming of anything from the fact that the Torah used extra letters to say about the non-kosher animal that it is not kosher rather than calling it "tameh", so certainly for a tzadik, one should not talk about his less positive aspects.
He answered that the point of talking about Noach's shortcomings is a lesson to us. Noach would have been a 'nobody' in Avraham's days, but in his days, the torah calls him a Tzadik. And not only does he get the title of tzadik, he even gets the title of tzadik yesod olam!
We too, may not be at the level we want to - or plan on - being at, but we need to appreciate that if we rise above the "problematic" and trying world we live in, even if we don't reach the levels of prior generations we can still be considered a tzadik (and perhaps even more of a tzadik than those who lived in less trying generations).
All those who are on this Chizuk e-mail list and are actively pursuing a holier life, are Tzadikim in OUR GENERATION!