I’m not a fan of optimism. Optimism and pessimism are both a form of vulgar fatalism — the belief that things are going to get better or worse irrespective of what we do. If I believed that, I wouldn’t get out of bed.
But I believe very much in hope. And hope is the belief that if you materially improve your circumstances, you will gain a new vantage point from which you will see things that you couldn’t see before.