Great topic since so many of us really believed that we were serving jehober and our fellow dubs as we ascended the wt ladder. It was the only thing that a 'dedicated' (male) witness was encouraged to aspire. we were soooo delusional! Oh My F*cking God were we delusional! It was so important as a young 'brother' to achieve those "stripes and badges" as we climbed that invisible ladder.
Too bad if you were born a woman! Nothing for you to aspire to in jehober's org except 'pioneer' and, maybe, if you were real lucky, the all important job of supporting your elder husband! IMHO, women would have been sooo much better at many of the organizational/congregation responsibilities and decision making positions.
I was like a jw "golden boy" so to speak. Vacation pioneered in the summer, baptized at 12 years old, gave my first public talk at 18 years old, married at 19 years old, regular pioneer at 20 years old, elder at 23 years old (when the 'elder arrangement' first began in 1972) and 'served' as an elder for over 3 decades off and on. I was used extensively for circuit parts and was a much requested speaker for public talks in our area of SoCal. I was sooo 'blessed' with sooo many "privileges"!----God I was great!---It was very hard to be humble when so much is heaped upon you so early in life and unfortunately, I ate it up like a buffoon! Other young ones in the 'troof' were out having fun, drinking, smoking, dancing, partying, doing a little weed (and other drugs), getting a little pu**y from some of the hotties in the vast SoCal area.
Me,----I was home studying for my next part on the meeting or circuit assembly or preparing my 'presentation.
Now I'm 70 and damn happy to be free of the wt organization even though I still attend occasionally to be with my lovely wife of 50+ years. I've seen a lot of sh*t go down in the wt borg. Not even close to what I knew as that "golden boy" growing up in the 60's and 70's. No "do overs" in life but it hasn't been all that bad either!
just saying!