Blog - Make Money - Retire... Really?

Over the past several weeks I have become increasingly obsessed with blogging and the notion that one could actually earn a living from sharing their thoughts. I have read over and over the claims of other bloggers that they are making money hand over foot from blogging. I have perused the blogs relating experiences of bloggers quitting their day jobs because they are making so much money from blogging. I have not experienced any monetary success to date and it certainly is not due to lack of effort. I have tried AdSense, Project Wonderful, ClickBank, EntreCard, etc., etc. I have seen an increase in site visits over the past couple of weeks. That is probably due to the incessant dropping I have been doing on the EntreCard site and reciprocal drops I am receiving from other users. I know that people have to visit your site in order to generate any revenue. It is pretty bad when the last thing you do at night and the first thing you do each morning is to check to see if any of the tools being used have generated a revenue stream. It is an extremely addictive cycle and also very demoralizing when you see nothing but goose eggs in the total columns. I need to be careful that my blog's original purpose isn't compromised by the lure of the almighty dollar. I guess trying to earn a buck from blogging is okay as long as what you are blogging adds value to those that read it. I just wish I could find the secret combination that generates the best of both worlds. Making money by blogging would certainly be something that I could see myself doing to fill some of my free time when I retire. Is that a realistic goal? Are the claims I read about true? I am still trying to paint the vision in my minds eye. Any suggestions out there fellow bloggers / readers? I am all ears.