Black Sheep #5 -- Black Sheep #2 here!
Something you said made me realize something about myself. For me, also, it really used to bother me... not so much that I was the black sheep, but that I was constantly disappointing or embarrassing my family, and consequently getting criticized.

But the point is that it doesn't bother me NEARLY as much now as it did before. It's true that as you get older, other people's opinions of you bother you less. Forgotten -- keep that in mind, ok? My family's opinion still matters to me and it still hurts when they criticize my decisions, but I've also realized that neither my dad nor my brother are risk-takers and I am -- so maybe I'm the black sheep and different than they are, but it doesn't mean I am bad or make the wrong decisions for myself.

One other thing that I have to keep in mind is that the most important thing is for me to trust myself... I cannot let my dad's criticism eat away at my own sense of better judgement. I have told myself that I will listen to his advice (even if it hurts) and consider what he is recommending, but if it goes against my better judgement, I'm going to do what I need to do. Of course, he always interprets that as me "being stubborn" and "not listening" and "making the wrong choice", but you know... that was the greatest relief for me, when I realized that there is more than one way to see it. He can only see things one way -- I am lucky because I have realized that it's not all black and white. So..... HA!

We are ALL going to be a-ok!