Yep, earning in US sucks, but earning in steem is great. At the ATH of 8, a 100 dollar post would give 3 Steem to curators and 9 to the author. That is now a 2 dollar post :D

For me, breaking the mental connection to USD has helped so that I see it as earning tokens, not currency and since I look long, it works for my path. The value only matters when buying something with it but internally in steem, it is always "buying" (accessing) the same stake worth of the pool.