Totally sucking at something is the first step on the road to being pretty okay at something.

That's strange. Gamers have been complaining that games have been getting easier over time, to the point that 'normal' difficulty on many games (especially heavily marketed ones) is too easy.

There's the key: Gamers have been complaining, not normal people. When I used to be a gamer (meaning I didn't have anything else to do with my life than get better at games), I could literally spend hundreds of hours mastering a single game. When you're at that level, games seem easy. Now, I casually will pick up a game once every three months or so and play, and for some games unless it's the easiest difficulty level, I get my ass kicked. Online (vs. "gamers")? Forget it. I totally get the "difficulty inflation" that's happening.

I'm finding that games seem more like work than they used to. Hard isn't the right word; grinding, is more like it.

On the topic of puzzle games, you might enjoy The Witness: http://the-witness.net

The Witness is possibly my favourite game of last year. A truly wonderful experience. Hugely recommended to anyone who likes puzzle games. (Also in that category: Portal, Portal 2 and Antichamber)

I have enjoyed it and can recommend it everyone else. It was an epic journey.

The first time you tried anything, you probably were pretty bad at it, but with perseverance and engagement, I assume you've gotten pretty good at a lot of things. I used to be very bad at a lot of genres of game and have gotten much better through conscious effort.

Maybe you haven't found the right game. Seems some people are just more talented at gaming - like others are at, e.g. dancing, and honestly I wish I was better at the latter than the former.