Why should these really quite nice maneuvers only be the preserve of religion? My concern here is that because we live in a flawed universe, this 'will to live' in itself is going to be flawed as well.
And a certain kind of bravery, a certain heroic acceptance of loneliness seems to be one of the key ingredients to being able to form a good relationship.
Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy takes the discipline of logic and the mind back to its roots.