I think I look backwards because there is a certain amount of security there. It's a notch on the growth chart. It might not be a comfortable place but it's familiar.
@onceuponatime mentioned in his #fivefacts post that he'd lost everything 3 times. I've lost, or felt like I'd lost everything at least twice. Looking back on in I wonder how I made it through but on the flip side, if it happened in the here and now I know I would survive it -- and the suck would be like an old, familiar blanket.