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I like the Way idea, but I interpret it a bit differently than what seems the face-value interpretation (maybe that's just me, lol). I think what was being communicated to Xena was that there were several different paths that she could follow, but she had to choose one and follow it wholeheartedly.

Pandora, you make a great distinction between career path, "Way," and moral life-path. I actually think these are three different things. Xena's career path was that of a warrior, her Way enabled her to stay a warrior and base decisions on that ("An evil man is trying to kill me; the right thing I have to do is to kill him"), and her religious beliefs were more complicated than that. I do think she had them. She seldom prayed, but she had the faith to put her own life and her daughter's in Eli's hands, when she knew no other way. Her Way of the Warrior affected that. Warriors have to rely on themselves unless there is no other choice. Gabrielle's Way allowed her to be more dependent on others, to pray more often, and to trust that circumstances would help her as often as hinder (Xena didn't have that luxury). So it's all interrelated. I don't think you're silly at all for taking a Xena philosophy and applying it to your life. I think that if we see a true idea, no matter where it comes from, if it really is true, then it'll apply other places. (My favorite Xena illustration is LUATD--knowing that, when you either allow yourself to hate someone else, or allow yourself to hate the person you were, that evildoer wins--that's applied in so many places in my life over the years.)

As to whether or not we all have our Ways? I believe we do...but again, I'm going to have to explain what I mean, because I do not mean that every person's path is predestined and life is only about finding it. I believe that we each have a set of inborn gifts that are unique, and also a set of inborn desires...more than desires, longings...that are unique. I was just back in MN visiting my parents, and Mom said she was content in her life as it was. And I realized that, although my life here in AZ is wonderful and I am happy with it, I don't know what it's like to not be yearning--to be content in the moment without having this undefined ache that tells you you're still searching for something more. So, even though I have chosen a religious path, I still haven't yet found my Way. Does that make sense? I think that our moral systems are a little different from the things we are supposed to do in the world. And I suspect that buried inside each of us is a desire to be heroes. It's one of the reasons that I enjoy shows like Xena and Buffy, because, even without imagining myself inside those shows, I can imagine what it is like to have a world-shaking task and be able to do it. To have a Calling, maybe, like Buffy said in the finale: "most people don't know what they're born to do; you (the Potential Slayers) do know." I believe we all do have that Calling. We find out about it in the same way that Xena did--through circumstances, through the situations in our lives that we fall into, the tasks we're given to do, the things we enjoy and don't enjoy, the things that satisfy those longings put within us by the people we are.

Hmmmm, I think it's my idealism talking again, 'cause in real life, I have no idea yet what I ultimately want to do for a job. But I hope I've helped with the question--even though I haven't found it in actual fact, I do have an idea for what each person's Way is in life.