I don't know that I'm optimistic. I wouldn't call the JW outlook "optimistic" either though, at bottom it is a very cynical and misanthropic worldview that we were indoctrinated into. The pictures of kids playing with pandas in paradise are window dressing.
Humans are fleshly creatures trying to survive the best they can in an uncertain world. Competition for resources, power, and the like has always been ugly, but competition is the fuel of progress. JW's and the WTS are kidding themselves when they continue to insist that somehow everything changed in 1914. The world was a pretty darn nasty place long before 1914 came along. I think if we could go back in time and witness the carnage of the American Civil War, or the unfathomable tragedy of the Black Plague, or just the general misery of life prior to the 20th century, we would be appalled, and very grateful for what we have.
Speaking of grateful, I think that having an "attitude of gratitude", though that may sound trite or cliched to a pessimist's ears, is the best way to go, and that is the attitude I am trying to cultivate. One day at a time.