In my (humble) opinion, it's not necessarily bad. Before you go out & spend money on a compact or triple, check your rear cassette. For help on the hills, the cog with the most teeth should have 26 or 27 (or even more, but that can leave you missing a few gears in the middle that you'd want on the flats). Buying a cassette with that gearing will cost less than a new crankset.
Give it a chance. Yes, it's going to seem harder at times, but chances are, if you keep pushing yourself, you'll get better at using the slightly harder gearing to climb hills. To quote something that another TE-er said to me once: "No self-doubt, please!"




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