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Clarity of mind is not an easy point to arrive at, and ceasing alcohol consumption will not automatically put you there.  I'm not sure that you or I can even be "there" in any state of perpetuity, either--rather, it is more likely that it remains fleeting, even when you kind of want it to be around.  However frustrating.  I'm writing this because choosing not to drink is also a choice about how to live, naturally, and for me the first choice has some implications for other arenas of life.  Those secondary arenas aren't glossy and may not even be better.  The Jury is still out.  But when drinking, my choices become more limited.  Of course, there's nothing like the wonderful realization that sobriety doesn't necessarily entail progress in any other area of life, either--