When should I (a 30M) stop being upset that my parents (60sF) decided I am not their "golden child"?

I am 30 now, and I have been trying for years now to not let this bother me but I still do. I have no idea at what point this will stop bothering me, if ever. <br><br>Growing up I did everything right. I had perfect grades, I was involved in multiple extra curricular activities, I won awards for these things. I'm not trying to sound cocky. I genuinely put my heart and soul into these things- those who knew me would probably be able to think of several different activities I was involved in. I worked hard to do everything I wanted to do well. I was captain of multiple teams. I was on honor roll. I was able to do all of these things and still have a large friend group. <br><br>My brother is six years younger than me and is the definition of the golden child. He was a complete failure, and he knew it. He didn't care about school and he didn't care about making friends. He didn't go for things he wanted. <br><br>I knew in my heart that I was the golden child. I did the most and was the most dedicated. I was the more talented one too, whether it be athletics, music, theater, etc. I did what I did because I genuinely loved it.<br><br>I remember my parents constantly telling me that they wish I could be more like him. They would constantly say how much happier he was than me. Then they would say that they wish I was as happy as he was. It was so confusing because I was happy. I was so happy with my life. I had friends, I was doing the things I wanted to, and I was succeeding at them. Everything was great and I was content with my life and my decisions. <br><br>This was around age 10 or so when I realized they were no longer proud of me. It didn't make sense to me, but I knew that I would rather be happy doing what I was doing than doing what he was doing. He was a recluse, which is what I think they meant by him being "happier". I would rather be actively doing things and going to school events than just staying home alone and never socializing.<br><br>I started to get really worried, because I didn't know what I was doing wrong. I knew I had to keep doing what I was doing. Things started to make more sense when I realized that I was the "Black Sheep". I would rather them think less of me and enjoy being happy than follow what they believed in and be a recluse like my brother. <br><br>When I got to high school is when the favoritism really started to show. He did nothing, I did everything, and they would constantly tell the extended family how proud they were of him for getting Cs in all of his classes. They were proud of him for getting *bad* grades, and they weren't proud of me for getting amazing grades. I started to notice that any time he did the bare minimum they were over the moon with pride. They were proud of him when he got involved in band, even though they knew I had been involved in band since age 6. They were proud of him when he got a job, even though they knew I had been working since age 14. <br><br>I applied to college and got a very large scholarship. They barely even acknowledged this and just said that they were "pretty proud". <br><br>My brother dropped out of high school and went to trade school. They were over the moon with pride, flying around the world to tell everyone about their "genius son" who has such a smart mind. They were insistent that he was a genius when he barely got a GED. They do not believe that I am a genius, despite the fact that I graduated top of my college class with a very difficult degree. <br><br>I am happily married now, to the love of my life, and my parents barely even acknowledge my relationship. They can't even remember my wife's name. They have never met her parents. I am financially secure and do very well for myself. I still do everything correctly, but my parents still seem to be upset that I succeeded and made something of myself. <br><br>I am married now, but my parents don't acknowledge my relationship. They do not care about my wife or her family. They do not care about our house or our dog. They do not want to come over to my house.<br><br>My brother lives in my parent's basement. He works as a cook at a restaurant. He is not married but has multiple children with different women. My parents constantly brags about how proud they are of him. They cannot stop talking about how well he does his job. How great of a father he is. How he is such a great cook and should be a chef. They could not be prouder, even though they have no idea what he actually does. They take every chance to fly all over the world to meet up with him, braging to everyone they see that their "genius son" has finally figured out his passion. <br><br>I'm not upset that they are proud of him. I'm upset that they have never been proud of me. I don't know if I will ever be able to stop being upset that I did everything right and they never cared.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>**TL;DR**: I was a very hard working and talented kid, but my parents were never proud of me. They were only proud of my brother who was a recluse. They are still proud of him even though he's a complete failure. I have no idea at what point this will stop bothering me, if ever.<br><br>&#x200B;<br><br>EDIT: Wow. I just woke up and wow. I cannot believe how much attention this is getting. Thank you for all of the kind words. I will try to reply to a few of you, but you can imagine that it is hard to keep up with this many comments. <br><br>Thank you all for your advice and your words of wisdom!