on getting a partner

i recently replied to matt's entry about being lost in the process of creating CA.
"don't be too picky about who you partner up with" was part of the advise i gave, and i need to expand on that notion because my partner got his feelings hurt by the comment, and also because tatyana asked me to do it.
when i was getting ready to open my CA clinic, i had developed a biz plan, floor plan, found a space, applied for a loan, etc... everything was pretty much lined up, but i knew i couldn't pull it all off by myself, and i had decided to hold off on the plans until i found a partner.
then i got a little note from lupine saying that there was this new graduate fellow in New Mexico who was moving to portland to try to have a CA clinic.
now, it just happened that i was taking a road trip to new mexico in a week, so i called this fellow and set up a meeting time. we met at a little cafe, i shared my plans with him, he shared his hopes and views with me, all in the span of half and hour. he seemed earnest and trustworthy, he must have thought the same of me, because after working out a couple of kinks, we decided to go ahead and partner up. it was a complete leap of faith for both of us. and within a couple of months we found ourselves accountable to eachother in big ways, financial, and otherwise.
our clinic has been open for about a year now, and we have certainly gotten a chance to get to know eachother well. we are super different people and there have been many instances where these differences come to the foreground of our business relationship. things get hairy sometimes and i am sure we both wonder what we have gotten into with eachother, but at the bottom of all this is: we both are earnest and trustworthy people who really want the clinic to succeed. we might think of it in different ways, go about it in different ways, etc. but that much we have in common.
my point about "don't be too picky who you partner up with": if you are looking for a partner and the universe just serves you one on a silver platter, you have got to look into that as an act of grace. as a prayer answered. that person might not be exactly who you had in mind, but are they for real? are they going to give it their all? are they trustworthy? do you have a good gut feeling about them? if your answer is yes to these questions, then go ahead and jump. who cares if their vision is not exactly the same as yours. if they have already developed all the business plans and you haven't, then you don't need to do that part, they already did it. if they already found a loan, then you don't need to do that either. if someone approaches you with an already moving train, then either jump on it or don't. but don't expect someone who's already set a train in motion to want to jump on your not moving train. if it is you who has a train moving, then take a partner who is willing to jump on yours.
a business is not a marriage and if worse comes to worse, dissolving a business partnership is not the same as a divorce. it is business and can be treated as such. if things aren't working, then the initial business arrangement can be amended accordingly.
also, a business is not a marriage and you and your partner don't have to jive with eachother in deep spiritual resonance. you just have to trust eachother and be able to work well together.
don't get your emotional needs all entangled in your decision to partner up with somebody. actually, i would say that doing that is probably the worse thing you can do. if you have deep emotional ties to your soon to be business partner, find another partner. it probably will ruin both business and relationship (there are exceptions, of course, i.e. lisa, skip and lupine).
pay attention to what comes your way when you ask for things to come your way.