I'm going to join in here and project some of my issues, just to offer a perspective. Maybe it's right and will provide some insight. It's probably wrong, but if there's a chance it helps someone, it's worth a shot I think.
There's a difference between feeling alone and feeling unvalidated, and it's hard to know the difference. (Of course maybe you're feeling alone because you really are alone and then this probably doesn't apply to you.) Nonetheless, not getting recognition for what you do sucks. We need validation from others, from meaningful others. It's part of the human condition. To deny that is to deny your own humanity. We're pack animals. And it's frustrating to feel nothing is ever good enough for the people around you. It's frustrating to try and show them it's worth it investing in you and you can't live up to their expectations.
You might think you don't need their recognition, you're just fine on your own. But sooner or later there will probably come a point when it's no longer enough to tell yourself what you're doing is right, or that you did your best, but you need to hear it from someone else. I always tried to do things on my own, claiming I didn't need anyone else or their appreciation, and then, one day, it turned out I couldn't. That day I tried to accept that one's happiness is sometimes dependant on other people.
That's part of the ?beauty? of a relationship. Relationships are not about having someone that makes you happy, they're about having someone to make happy. And that makes you happy. To have someone that shows you you make a difference for him/her. Of course, that doesn't always work out?
My advice would be to seek a hobby. Go do something in your spare time. Something you like and are good at and where it's easy for people to show you you did a good job. Personally I love to cook for my mother and sister on weekends when I'm back home. Maybe it's a bit sad, and a little pathetic, but at the end of the meal, that little ?That was a lovely dinner, thank you.? means the world to me. Maybe they're just being polite, maybe they don't really mean it, but I sure love to believe they do.
Also I'm a pretty good cook, even if I say so myself. So they're probably being honest?
Ideally, one shouldn't care all too much what other people think, and you should just enjoy the things you do because you want to do them, not to please other people. To simply stop seeking your validation from others is what most people would probably tell you, but I found it's not always that simple to make that switch?
