I couldn't help but think this is similar to the desired effect the NT has in mind when it exhorts believer's to imitate, embody, or have the same mind as Christ. Cooper struggles to let go of his role as Kyle. When we become followers of Christ we're cast in a new role, the role of Jesus. The habitual embodiment of Jesus transforms us and we should rejoice, if like Cooper, we struggle to live again as the person we were before we were cast in the role of Jesus. Luckily for the follower of Christ, we don't have to return to the person we were before we met and embodied Jesus. Of course, the struggle to revert to that old person is palpable. We feel it when we act or embody that old person again. We feel the tension between the two very different roles we can play. By God's grace and the Spirit's power, we can more faithfully act out or embody our role as Jesus.
BD