Whether or not one can make a living on one's instrument deals a lot to do with a lot of factors.
The mountain does not come to Mohammed. It depends on how flexible you are musically, how creative (and by that I mean adjusting to circumstances) you are, how wide a range of travel you want to put up with, what your income level vs. amount of work you want to commit to is.
I made a full-time living for a good half a century, but I have to acknowledge that towards the end, I had to play a greater variety if music, travel got further and further away, musical techniques modernized (and by that I mean more incorporation of electronics, less reliance on groups of musicians). Income remained the same but it required a more resourceful approach. I call this last phase my "mosaic" period, where I had to do it all, simultaneously.
Not judging, but for some the trade-off just isn't worth it.