I'm not saying this necessarily applies to you, but many people find that it takes them quite a bit of intensive meditation practice to even discover that they've been overlooking a lot of chatter in their minds.

> Beginning meditators often think that they are able to concentrate on a single object, such as the breath, for minutes at a time, only to report after days or weeks of intensive practice that their attention is now carried away by thought every few seconds. This is actually progress. It takes a certain degree of concentration to even notice how distracted you are.

—Sam Harris