Dear Meg,
Just wanted to share my experience with you. I use to be very easily irritated by sounds and when somebody slams with doors it used to give me chills allover. Since I am more in controle and more in touch with who I am and am more acceptable of my way of reacting and why it is that way, the noises don’t seem me to bother me that much anymore. I have started to meditate regularly for about a year now, I read a lot. I talk a lot about my troubles and insecurities without judging them. Just trying to understand them. It has helped me a lot in becoming less focused on things that I have no control over and it has shifted a lot of my attention to things that I can do something about. Ofcourse a good set of noise cancelling headphones is never a bad idea:). You can use them to listen to relaxing meditation music before falling a sleep.
All the best Meg.
Sherin