I just returned from convention in Las Vegas. There I met all kinds interesting people (more on them later) and did all kinds of interesting Vegas-y stuff. But mainly I walked around and people-watched. And was struck by something.

Though I know people call it the City of Sin, it also seems to be the City of Couples. I'm sure there were plenty of loners there, but for some reason it seemed like everyone was walking with someone. Buddy, husband, group of friends, prostitute, what have you.

One type I found extra-fascinating to watch were couples. Couple-couples. I saw men betting hundreds of dollars while their wives or girlfriends watched and bit their nails. I watched women log hours at the blackjack table with a husband coming over only occasionally to say hi and to give her a good luck kiss.

And I thought: how cool.

How cool that gambling - which can be dangerous and destructive - can also be something entertaining for both parties. And even bonding. After all, I know a lot of the cash being pushed toward the dealer didn't belong only to the hand that pushed it. I'm sure some of it was the couple's collective money yet only one half of the couple was deciding to stick, fold, raise, split, double.

That's a lot of trust. Which brings me to something else I encountered during my Vegas trip. Most of the people I met at the convention were people who worked for themselves (and I might add, were incredibly smart and fun.) And most of those people had once worked for 'the man' but who grew their side business large enough to eventually leave the boss behind and go full-time on their own.

Exciting! Risky!

When I asked a lot of these people what their spouse had said when they made the jump and left that steady paycheck behind, all of them said they had their spouse's full support. Again, most of these conference-goers were smarter than your average clock-puncher, and so their entrepreneurial success was a safe bet. But still, it was a bet. A gamble. One they were able to take because they had a spouse believing in them and their dreams.

Which made me realize that when you enter a marriage, you're not just taking on a partner. You're not just taking on extra laundry, here, folks. You're also taking on their dreams, their risks. Accepting a proposal of marriage is also accepting how risk-happy your intended is.

How comfortable are you with dreaming someone else's dreams? Assuming their risks? What if they were the opposite:: conservative and very risk-averse. Would you be okay with that, too?