Today you and I will be tempted to settle for the "Mini-me" us? He's the little version that says, "Oh, that's good enough." "You don't need to do that.... You're not like 'those' people...."You've got, well you know, problems. Those kinds of, well, uh, problems. The Stuff. Stuffy kind of stuff. Burdens to bear. Junk from the past. That inherited worry disorder. (It's part of your ethnic past!) ADD. Depression stuff. The difficult marriage... difficult kids.... work situation.. financial situation... situation situation.... blah blah blah blah blah."

Been there, done that, taken the pills and wrote the book! But I'll be tempted to listen to Mini-me again today. And so will you.

So if Mini-me isn't helpful, what do we really want from him? (or her?)

My guess: It's the "Don't worry, it's OK not to be big better version of yourself" thing. Like the coddling parent who says, "It's OK, you tried your best honey," Mini-me lets us off the hook. He tells us we don't need to reach for the stairs, not to mention the stars. He quotes wisdom literature like "Pain shall be your burden, Oh poor and wounded one."

So, if you hear Mini-me's voice today, just let him know "Friend, I know you're trying to be helpful, but I'm better than that."

Let's agree with Martin Luther King Jr who said: "I may not be the man I want to be; I may not be the man I ought to be; I may not be the man I could be; I may not be the man I can be; but praise God, I'm not the man I once was."

So lets just say "sorry" to Mini-me!