we gain perspective

We become inured to life's conditions. It's part and parcel of how adaptable we are. When change is gradual it sneaks up on us, and we're in a new reality that has become normal. We may have accepted sub optimal conditions without realizing it. There will even be very simple things we can do to get back to a better place, but we won't see them because they are not "normal".

Rich Roll, author of a wonderful book called Finding Ultra, speaks to this topic in this presentation: