Lazy or Stupid?

Someone put this request out there.  At the time I was attracted to answering it because of what I went through with my ex-husband.  I thought long and hard about the request, as my ex-husband was very bright, definitely had a great intellect.  In fact, I would say that he was one of the cleverest people I knew at that time.  In fact, that's probably what attracted me to him in the first place, his smart mind and ready wit.  However, over time, the smart ready wit became nasty and dripped sarcasm.  I soon found out that smart mind does not mean that you are able to work.  My ex-husband has to be the laziest critter ever to reside on planet earth.  He was so lazy, that I once contemplated getting him an oxygen tank to breathe for him. 

In ten years together and nine years of marriage, he contributed to the family income for about 2 years, and even then, it wasn't continuous.  He preferred to let me be the breadwinner.  As I struggled to earn enough to feed his love of junk food (coke and chips), his laziness and inability to hold down a job meant that our life together was a continuous financial struggle.  In this case, laziness equalled being poor.  He was quite happy with the arrangement.

Then again, I have met some really really stupid people who manage to make a good living.  Being stupid, has nothing to do with being lazy.  You can be stupid and have a great work ethic and work really hard and make a good living.  Actually, I would say that those people might not have the intelligence on a paper test, but the success they have made of their lives shows that they have street smarts and in the end, it doesn't matter if they have no idea who Charles Dickens was.  In my eyes, the fact that they could hold down a job makes them the smarter person.

I reckon, Forest Gump is proof of which one is better. He was sick as he had many things wrong with him and was definitely intellectually challenged, but he had the right kind of work ethic and was a risk-taker so he managed to accummulate wealth. On the other hand, if you are lazy you could be the brightest spark in the universe, but if you don't apply yourself, you will be poor. It also depends on whether or not you are looking at happiness as the end result. because you can be poor and lazy but ecstatically happy with your life and not want more. Then again, it depends on the sickness you have, but you can be sick and stupid and still be happy because you don't know any better, or you have achieved more than most people.  Like forest Gump did.