Am I stuck in my high rate treadmill?

When I get contacted by some translation companies based in New York enquiring about my quote on a certain project, I give my standard rate, which I know, is higher than the one that a larger half of translators` gang charges. And I am not talking about those disadvantaged linguists sitting somewhere in India, provincial areas of Russia, Ukraine or elsewhere - I am talking about those who inhabit the money-making capital of US, that is New York. Everybody is trying to win over the competitors and have an edge by cutting their rate. But what is the point of undervaluing your skills, your time, your energy? I prefer to miss out on those obscenely cheap gigs and pick up some supersize assignment that will pay according to my conditions. It is better not to disperse your creative spirit. So, sometimes I get a response - sorry but we already found somebody else or even this (in order not to be so bluntly insensitive): since we choose the translators on "first come - first serve basis", we had to pick somebody else. Never mind that I responded to their email the moment it got sent. (: What is that, the store give-away or the restaurant reward program? He-he - who knows maybe one day I will join the brotherhood of translators` rat-race but for now I stand my ground.