As a traditional Jew, it beats me.
That's because the word "religious" has literally never been part of Judaism's vocabulary.* Defined in English, according to Webster, religious is relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity and being scrupulously and conscientiously faithful. Sounds like a pretty lofty goal.
When G-d gave us the Torah on
So if the Goal isn't to be religious, what is? We're asked to stay balanced in the complex Goal of constantly searching, questioning, learning His Torah, but also doing its mitzvot, even if we don't yet fully understand them, or have perfect faith...to be close to Him.
Consider this: It's like getting the opportunity to connect with a celebrity. How many people would eagerly grab the chance to fulfill a small request for their favorite celebrity? To bring them a drink, get them their cell phone? To connect in some way with a figure larger than life?
A mitzvah is a way to do just that with G-d. To connect with Him. To be close to Him. And fancy this: He is always available for you to be close to Him. Infinite G-d Himself yearns to be close to finite little me.
And when we're reaching out to Him as one who doesn't yet fully understand, or have perfect faith…Judaism teaches that action itself leads to faith and understanding.
We can't solely rely on the searching, questioning and learning to lead to action. Because the search is the task of a lifetime. Like the quest to fully understand the importance of eating healthy foods, which can also take a lifetime, we cannot wait to understand how every vitamin and mineral is needed, or we won't get the chance to benefit from them. We have to start by eating them while we learn about them. And the learning will inspire us to keep committed to a healthy lifestyle. The searching, questioning and learning is there to infuse passion into our commitment to action, our spiritual vitamins and minerals, to have a more intimate, constant closeness with G-d, on this physical earth.
But what if He's not your favorite celebrity? What if you don't actively yearn to be close to Him? What if we're not quite ready to fully embrace Him, intellectually, and perhaps emotionally? Just as precious to G-d as those who fluidly dance and embrace Him are those who wrestle with Him, or perhaps even His very existence. But we cannot remain still, in the theoretical, philosophical stage if we are to grow in closeness.
This is where the action, mitzvot, come in. It is the movement that brings us closer to G-d.
So start off with a small mitzvah. You don't have to be worried about not being religious, because no one is. Start with one that you like. And search, and question, and learn, so that you can experience the joy in it, too.
And lastly, enjoy the satisfaction that you did something to be close to G-d, and that He feels close to you, even if it's not with complete conscientiously faithful devotion to an ultimate reality.
How un-religious.
*In recent years, it was added to more-modern Hebrew. But the language in its origin never contained that word.