Here's a brief summary of life: it goes better with God. That's not just nice words - life is better when we go through it in a relationship with and talking with our Father God about everything. It's also definitely not about religious activity or places - just us and God.
Yes, we can live our lives quite well on our own - especially if we use our mind far more than usual. The mind is more powerful than we tend to give credit - and not just for "thinking" as we know it.
Living life constantly talking with God does not solve our problems. Nor does it mean everything will always be great. Difficulties are always with us, but I've learned far from a bad thing. Having lost our first daughter, our first business, and significant aspects of our health, we appreciate they only become a tragedy if we don't go through them, and learn more about ourselves and others. In fact, unless we have a high degree of empathy (I don't) we will probably not learn deeply enough some important things in our lives without difficulties.
Learning isn't a matter of mastering facts - there's always more to go. But even more important is learning the connections between things. Many of the issues facing the world today are connected - pulling on one piece of loose thread quickly unravels so much more. Tackling one aspect invariable affects others. If the effects are aligned, that's great. If not ...
As an example, so often we divide into left and right on so many issues. History shows the left fails miserably at managing countries economically - and the right fails miserably at much else. Both sides make some good points - but it's only when they come together we get the best - and avoid the worst. Even then, the "best" will be less than the best if we expect everybody to share the same views and values.
With every aspect of life, it's all about relationships and respect - or dare I say, love. And that can only achieve it's maximum with God's help.
God has shown me very specifically that I have been wrong in assuming many things are wrong because of who says them. Even people who sat the most stupid things can still say some great things. it's very important that we can separate the message from the messenger. Whether that messenger is the Pope, the "Bishop", the President or any other, we need to discern each message. We can then be surprised.