I think Donne meant death that church bells alert us,,,in that we mostly forget we, too, will be gone one day. Could it mean other trying hardships? Possible. But I truly believe reminding oneself of our own death can give us jolt of energy to get one's life in order. It really does for me if I am using 'too much' time amounting to wasting it. Actually in psychology it's known as TMT (terror management theory) a therapy that helps people who endlessly ruminate, do cleaning or talk without much thinking (because they likely wish to deceive Themselves int thinking that they matter, that they are somebody important. These are the ones who fall for 'likes' and 'friends' as self-image boosters, a terrible mistake. If you do want to feel good, put yourself out there and then find out your worth. I do some 'wordle' word game puzzle that tests one's vocabulary as well as logical thinking. If I get an 'impressive' on find the right word, I pat myself but discount it for pure-chance possibility. similarly for Sudoku puzzles, both logical and hard on you if it belongs to Hard category from new york times.
Cheers!

Hi, Valerie!
I sent you a private message about the quote. It isn't funny so I didn't put it in here.
Working our brain cells is fun, if not really funny.
🙂