240112 What I learned in my studies this morning 4

Pause. Collect. Ponder.
You can't fool me, Impression!
I see what you are.

Today's Meditation(s):

Meditations, 3.11 (Waterfield)

Learn to judge the truth of things.

Stoics use the word assent to describe how they interact with the impressions they receive from the world.  When an impression impinges upon our mind, a Stoic will pause for a moment and reflect on it.

Impressions often come bundled with undesirable emotional content: anger, anxiety, envy, frustration, disappointment, etc.  (Ditto catastrophic thinking, if you are prone to that.)  These feelings are usually unwanted and unneeded.  But . . . they can be stopped before they take hold — or interrupted as they try to take over and 'drive the bus' — and discarded to positive effect.

Epictetus, Discourses 2.18.24

Personally, I like this version of the idea:

When I pause, I win. I place my reason in charge and give myself the time to choose, rather than simply allowing myself to be overcome with the natural, but unwanted and usually unwarranted, passion.

It may happen that the impulsive response is the correct one.  Unlikely, but it's possible.  Still, I can then choose to assent to that initial impression after consideration. The point is not to let it cause me to act viciously or unwisely.