I am not the best story teller but i am a very lovely person so i hope i meek multitude with a lot of kindness to offer
Truth be told, it does sounded difficult especially for lower rank members which is essential for them to rank up and frustrating to see Hero or Legendary members who are not too bothered about ranking up get flooded with merits with their posts but just like someone have rightly said, its not impossible. I have seen a member ranked individual already with enough merit to get full member and it keeps increasing.
An advice to you and everyone is to understand what they are doing differently and put some serious thoughts into posts and before you know it it will start coming with people noticing you and if you are convinced you are putting your best, apply to merit giving threads and you are sure to be reviewed.