By Elyce Ventura, Director

If you’re beginning to feel like there is no good news out there and you’re getting overwhelmed by economic doom and gloom, you may just need a little lesson in cautious optimism.

Time Magazine recently ran an article on how our psychology - namely, personality and outlook on life - can be just as important to well-being as exercising and eating right, especially these days, with economic concerns turning everyone into Debbie Downers.

Science suggests that the greater part of an optimistic outlook can be acquired with the right instruction – so here’s your first lesson: Look for the good news out there, even if it takes some digging.

Stories abound about consumer confidence rising, and economic indicators pointing up. The Wall Street Journal reports that economic observers see several factors that suggest the economy in general and the housing market in particular may be on the mend.

Sales of single-family homes in March remained flat compared to January and February, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. The Labor Department reported claims were down in the week ending April 11.

What’s more, there are silver linings in our economic slump that many of us may not have considered but do exist when we look closely. USA Today reports that the worldwide economic slowdown is having an unexpected positive impact in the fight against global warming: Emissions of carbon dioxide are falling, as a slowdown in manufacturing across the globe has resulted in lower CO2 emissions.

So, while there is certainly a fair share of crummy news out there and economic hardship to go around, you see that there are glimmers of hope when you want to find them. We’ll keep pointing out positive industry news , and we invite readers to do the same.

Class dismissed.