I agree with nito89 and Arch that you are succeeding, not failing. Most of my LDs have been very to relatively brief, with a couple of notable exceptions. I assumed that I would achieve lucidity, stabilize it, and then have this or that experience, and in one of my very first LDs, I was able to create precisely the experience I wanted out of thin air--and then I was baffled when I was unable to do anything near that in subsequent LDs.

I realized I was putting too much pressure on myself and have backed way off. At the moment, my entire focus is on achieving lucidity. I'm not worrying about stabilizing the lucid state or about controlling my dreams--all of that will come.

It sounds to me like you are absolutely doing great! Go easy on yourself, maybe setting just one very simple goal beyond achieving lucidity, or even setting no goal, for now, beyond that. It sounds like you are going to have a fantastic lucid dreaming career!