What if you could only choose one?

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So if you could only choose one option

Happiness.. by way of romance , family, kids etc but unable to be yourself.

Or be alone .. like loneliness and isolated but still have your hobbies and interests and be yourself

What would you choose ?

Obviously this is a complex question. But I can't really explain the entirety of what I mean as I'm not even sure if I can explain my emotional reasons for what I'm feeling.
Just very mixed up

if i could not be myself how could I be happy?

Alone. No questions asks.
Even if I can fulfill and afford both.

But that's just me.
I have no social longing -- never felt loneliness or the idea of being left out.


As much as I love my friends and family... They have to understand -- as much as they have needs and preferences, so do I.

Relationships and connections are a two way thing.
It's not -- never about one only having to please the other. They accept me... I accept them.

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I do have family, good relationship, kids, etc. and it's crucial for me to have time alone and pursue my interests - to keep the said family life sustainable.

If I had to mask to achieve it and give up being myself, it would last a few years and collapse beyond repair with a spectacular burnout. Actually, it kind of did anyway, but as my relationship wasn't founded on my masking and my husband really supports me the way I am, we were able to climb out of it.

Family life is not an achievement with "and they lived happily ever after" kind of ending. It's work. A lot of hard work to keep things running, to stay together and be a team, to go together through various hardships and crises. You need good contact with your own needs to keep things going well and not end up in a little private hell.

So, if I had to choose, definitely the latter. The former is unsustainable.

Alone. I don't understand what benefit being in a relationship/having kids would be if you are forced to be someone/something you aren't. I don't understand how I could be happy or how they could if I was making them think I was someone I wasn't. That's not love and happiness to me. That's a lie being lived, a false reality. I'll take real any and everyday over that.

I can't answer the question definitely because I would prefer a combination of them.

Yes, it's important for me to be genuine, but that doesn't need to come at the expense of partner, family, etc.

I'm not very interested in my hobbies. Maybe when I was ten, but in my mid-30s I value human relations and social belonging much higher.

Alone, 100000 %. No questions asked. I couldn't survive otherwise.

If I had the time and money to pursue my passions, which is how I can most fully be myself-- unquestionably #2.

I love to pursue my interests, but ultimately, if they don't matter to the next generation, they don't matter to me either.

How could isolation with one's hobbies and interests not make someone happy?

When the stress and anxiety of dealing with other people starts being too much, I retreat to solitude with my hobbies and interests, and that makes me happy again!

I enjoy working on some things alone, but the purpose is always to share the results if possible. Loneliness is real, and can be deadly for many people.

I'd rather be alone. I'm fine being alone and would prefer to pursue my hobbies over having a relationship.

Alone. I feel like as long as i can be myself i would find a way to be happy without depending on other people