People will tell you they weaken the planet--they don't. They just change the expression. And if anything, it can become even more pronounced or "thematic" in your life. For instance, a Mercury retrograde, for instance is not someone with weaker mental faculties, often, they are very analytical and have great mental stamina.
With so many, you're a "retrograde" individual. (I am, too.). The idea is that the direct personalities (statistically, most people have 2 retrogrades) make up society. They represent the mainstream, the bulk of the trends. Retrograde personalities don't fit. We're here to question, to examine and to take a different perspective, to shift society. We bring confrontation.
You need to see at what station the planet was, for instance, a stationary direct does manifest differently than the stationary retrograde or solar opposition.
Also, have any of your planets gone direct yet? That's something to look at.
The best book I've found on retrogrades is Retrograde Planets by Erin Sullivan--it's excellent. And in the book Your Hidden Powers by Joanne Wickenburg, there's a very good section on retrogrades. She even has a table in the back that lists all the dates of the retrograde stations for Mercury through Saturn from 1920-2000.