Honestly, hopeful optimism has got me no-where.

But has depressive realism/pessimism gotten you anywhere either?

Where are you trying to "get to"? And why? What do you imagine having or doing that you don't already have? What do you imagine that bringing you? If you can answer these questions in a way that's truthful to yourself, you're already way ahead of most people.

The truth is, the world is both fucked, and everything is special and every moment matters and has ripple effects that last forever. Both are simultaneously true, and it's always been that way. IMO to ignore the good OR ignore the bad, is to only see half the picture.

A true realist wouldn't ignore half of what's happening to suit a particular emotion. They would able to see all emotional angles simultaneously, good and bad, because they're all "true", right?

Sure we're all going to die, but we all have to live in the meantime. Your experience can suck, or you can make it not suck, or whatever you want. You can make it not matter, or matter tremendously. It's literally up to your mind's emotional interpretation of sensory data, which ultimately is something we decide. How do you want to pass the time?

My 2 cents