In one of the very earliest training workshops, led by Thomas Keating, a nun tried out her first twenty-minute taste of Centering Prayer and then lamented, "Oh, Father Thomas, I'm such a failure at this prayer.  In twenty minutes, I've had ten thousand thoughts."
"How lovely!" Responded Thomas Keating without missing a beat.  "Ten thousand opportunities to return to God!"

Cynthia Bourgeault, Centering Payer and Inner Awakening, pg. 23-24