Well I have been having lucid dreams for quite a few years now. Not necessarily TRYING to get them, that has been on and off, but I would say I am pretty experienced and have done some very interesting things in LDs. Thats why i was unsure why sometimes I can't do anything, no matter how hard I believe I can.

I even had one LD where I couldn't do anything, and i couldn't wake myself up. (I used to realize i was having a nightmare, turn it into an LD and wake myself up when I was a little kid). The dreams where I can't wake myself up scare me the most... I almost feel like im going to be trapped in my mind for god knows how long, considering an hour LD can be minutes in real life.