TL;DR: That homeless drunk laying on the street was actually a top student back in school.

Body:

First ask yourself: what is the difference between "easy" and "hard"? Something is easy when you already know how to do it, either from past experience or being able to quickly grasp it mentally. On the other hand, something is hard when you don't know how to do it, at least until you figure out how to do it.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

If you're used to being the smartest kid in the class, then you probably have an inflated ego. When you encounter the inevitable difficulty, as in not being able to grasp a concept quickly as you are wont to do, then it's a blow to your ego. So your mind refuses to accept it and thereby distract yourself with anything and everything but trying to figure out the problem at hand.

However, if you were considered merely average or below average, then it may not come as a surprise that you can't figure something out quickly. So you might work at it until you do figure it out. You might learn that this tenacity is the way to success, and make it a habit, a lifestyle. After all, you don't consider yourself a mentally gifted, so toiling and trying hard like a lameass doesn't bruise your ego. After all, you thought of yourself as kind of stupid for not "getting it" as quickly as some of the other kids in class.

Lessons learned:

It's natural to encounter difficulty learning new concepts no matter how smart you are, so keep plugging away at it until you figure it out (instead of wasting time with diversions).