Enchiridion 26, and "Making Proper Use of Impressions"

 

"Keith Seddon, in his commentaries to the Enchiridion, mentions "making proper use of impressions, in a significant way, in each of the following chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13.,14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 38, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 53,.

Here is Seddon's mention of "making proper use of impressions" in his commentary to Chapter 26:

[26] "How to cope with the loss of one’s child or wife has already been addressed in Chapters 3, 11, and 14. Here, in Chapter 26, Epictetus expands the discussion by instructing us to view our own calamities in exactly the same way as we view those of other people. The will of nature presides over the lives of everyone equally, showing no
favour or bias: which is not to say that we all suffer adversity to the very same degree, or enjoy the very same advantages in exact proportion, but
that we share in common with everyone the very same liabilities. Whatever has just now happened to me has happened to countless others, and will happen again to multitudes yet to come. But by the same token, we all share the same potential capacities, and although any one person cannot excel in all the things manifest by those most talented, when it comes to learning Stoic principles and making proper use of impressions, the race is that much more even. It is doubtlessly true that there is not a single person who, with the right teaching and training, would not be able to make some considerable progress towards the freedom and tranquillity that Epictetus commends" (Seddon, pg. 105).

Keith Seddon (2005). Epictetus' Handbook and the Tablet of Cebes.