It sure does. No one is saying it is an easy choice. It's a very difficult choice, so difficult in fact that some people aren't able to make it. But it is a choice nevertheless.

Trust me, I hear you. Disagreeing with those you deem important is a tough choice because making that choice may ultimately leave you alone. Absolutely alone. And for the majority of people, as my experience has taught me, it is easier to accept mistreatment or non-acceptance than to be left alone, to be rejected or abandoned..

And, it's true of any kind of relationship, isn't it? What about friendship? If we are afraid to disagree with a friend for the fear of losing them, is this friendship real? If a friend can't accept me for who I am, if they can't accept the differences of views, and if I have to hide parts of me that my friend doesn't like than I am not being real in that relationship, and then the friendship is not real, isn't it?

What about any kind of interactions, including those we have online? I am sure you have observed people anxiously and spontaneously forming groups that promote certain ideas. And, you've probably also noticed that people inside the group have little difference of opinion, not necessarily because everyone feels the same exact way about a certain issue but because people are scared to be kicked out of the group. Being lonely is what scares people the most and they are willing to betray themselves in order to be accepted by others. Paradoxically, this way they are not able to form authentic relationships either. When I don't feel safe to express myself freely in any group or any relationship then what good is in that group or that relationship? Then I am lonely anyway. Loneliness in relationships is much worse than loneliness while being alone.