I met a man who was a talented commercial artist. He had money, several houses. He had been in a band as a young man. His first gig on the TV was cancelled when his bandmate had an accident. Things petered out after that. That was in the 60s. He was still bitter.
One thing I’ve learned from meeting—mostly Baby Boomers—is that unless you have a definite project in life that must be fulfilled it is imperative to have children. It will not make you “happy” (impossible!), but you will avoid a kind of dark bitterness that is very ugly and sad!