What's a word or phrase to describe the discovery of something startlingly obvious?

Along the lines of Occam's razor, but I'd like to be able to use it in a sentence regarding something specific for my college essay.

Here's the context: I grew up in the same house my father practiced chiropractic and acupuncture, and after many many years of trying to bend my life into anything besides either of these two professions, I was able to come to the startling realization that my true vocation had been laying under my nose the whole time, and I never gave it the time of day to seriously consider it.

"Seriously considering becoming a chiropractor and acupuncturist was like sparking a wildfire in my heart, and I had never (insert better phrasing here-something along the lines of 'realized something so obvious yet so powerful in my entire life') "

I don't know if there is a way to imply the concept of Occam's razor neatly into this sentence.

Solution 1:

You might try:

under your / someone's nose, which means:

Directly in front of someone.

Example usage from the link above:

I spent all morning looking for the book, and it was right under my nose the whole time.

Solution 2:

As in:

"Seriously considering becoming a Chiropractor and Acupuncturist was like sparking a wildfire in my heart. I had my eureka moment!"

eureka moment OED

(frequently with lower-case initial) an instant in which a scientific discovery is made or a breakthrough occurs; a moment of inspiration; (in extended use) an exciting or significant experience;

Solution 3:

The title of another EL&U question expresses the sentiment nicely:

• An Epiphany A Long Time in the Making

epiphany noun 2 A moment of sudden and great revelation or realization. - ODO

The term epiphany describes your “startling realisation” and the rest of the phrase covers the long latent period leading up to that sudden realisation.