The Rewind Button

On page 74 of Slaughterhouse Five, Vonnegut decribes a scene in a movie Billy watches backwards. The scene depicts the progression of the events of the war, but seen backwards, all the destruction is undone and the lost lives are given back. Reading this passage, I really liked the idea. It got me thinking about how we see our own lives. What would happen were we to see our lives as Billy saw the war movie: backwards?
Of course the damage done would be undone and all of the things we have to struggle through would disappear because there would be some time in our lives when we were without them. My idea though, is kind of different. I don't really care to take away all the struggles in my life ( though there are definitely some I could live without), but rather find reasons for them. I hold the belief that everything happens for a reason and that all of the trials I have in my life do serve a purpose. Whether that purpose will ever be know to me is what I don't know. Sometimes going through things though, I would love to know the reason. When things get so hard that I just want to give up, I would like to know the point of all the obstacles I am overcoming.
I think that's what I would use the rewind button (so to speak) for in my life. In the end, we often have that understanding of the purpose of what we just went through and it seems worthwhile. Being able to see that in the beginning may have been better, but looking at things in retrospect definitely makes acceptance easier.
This kind of relates to Billy in that he goes through so much, and for what? What does he gain for all his pain? If he could have seen beforehand the results of all the battles he fought, would he have chosen them differently? Would I choose my battles differently?
In the end, we can't see how things are going to turn out. I guess that means we have to take chances. See what happens. If we win, good for us. If we lose, so it goes.