14 Days of Kent: Day 9

One of the things that really makes Kent who he is, is his solid self-confidence. This is really one of those driving factors behind so many of his other character traits and all the things I love about him. It’s the reason he is not easily embarrassed and can laugh at himself. It builds on his natural intelligence and allows him to take on and learn much more than he normally would.

I remember in the early days of our marriage he sent out a family email entitled “Kent Awesomeness Update.” At first I was a bit appalled, but upon reading it you realize that while he is touting his awesomeness, he is also just filling his family in on the goings-on of his life. It also lends to his sense of humor, more tongue-in-cheek than actual bragging. There are so many people in this world that struggle with self-esteem and believing in themselves and in a lot of ways it’s refreshing that Kent doesn’t have this issue. He very rarely second guesses himself and accomplishes much more than I am usually able to because of this. I find myself spending so much time thinking I’m not the best person for the job, someone else must be better suited, while Kent just jumps in to help wherever needed.

I love how unafraid he is of new situations and new people and is able to see things as a challenge rather than an impossible task. It makes me so grateful that he is the father of our children and if they don’t inherently have this gift, perhaps they can learn it from his example. Kent served his mission for the church in Poland and was able to learn a language that to me, seems almost impossible to learn and understand. Anytime we are out and he even thinks someone might possibly be Polish, he always greets them in Polish and carries on a quick conversation. Even though his Polish is getting a bit rusty, he never turns away an opportunity to do it. And the Poles love it!

His confidence also allows him to be a more interesting conversationalist. He’s not worried about making sure everyone knows everything about him, how much he knows, or how important he is. When he’s talking to someone he asks a lot of questions about them and he’s a great listener. He’s willing to learn something about the other person, rather than push his own agenda the whole time.

He’s found reasonable success in his career because he is confident in his skills and what he can offer the process. In his current position he provides a service to other groups that can truly improve their process and he has become a “go to” resource for a lot of people. That’s right folks, he’s awesome. I’m glad he knows his strengths so I don’t have to constantly reassure him. And it’s comforting to know I can turn to him for an honest assessment of what he can and can’t do.