Finding Calm In The Chaos

On my first day of meditating at home, I was lying on the floor, trying to focus on my breath. I was also trying to gently push away the intrusive thoughts that were rampaging through my mind like a willful 2-year-old who is being told "no."
But my house was filled with family and dogs, and there was a ball game blasting on the TV downstairs. The thoughts I was trying to evict were starting to sound hysterical.

 Then I heard it—the clack, clack, clack of dog claws on the hardwood floor. Snuffle, snuffle,


 nuffle. Buster, our Tibetan spaniel, was inspecting me like a search-and-rescue dog looking for signs of life. Why hadn't I closed the door?
There's a good reason you never see pictures of gurus posing with their families and pets. Can't anybody get a little inner peace around here?