The clock time arises from dualism. The countable time as mechanical sequence of equal sized units. But life is a circle, though the life line seems to run away from birth to death linearly.
The wheel of time
Even the second hand of a clock runs in circle and not straight ahead. Though, the wheel of time only runs in one direction. The wheel as such is a symbol of wholeness, in constant motion, but the center (the hub) remains unchanged. Every thing comes to appearance, develops and disappears (seemingly) from existence again. Some returns, some remains outside of further experience forever.
The seasons rotate in life cycle recurringly, but they are never the same entirely. It's the same with our life wheel. Sometimes the "high point" dominates, then there is deep grief in turn, there is a time of resting, of working, a time of joy, of love, a time of celebrating or of learning. Everything has its time, the appropriate point of time, passes and returns. Everything is allowed do be how it is, a guilty conscience about neglecting other things is out of place.
Present, past and future
The point around which everything revolves, the hub, is called "present" - that tiny cutout that we perceive just in the moment of the blink of an eye. Present is that point of time where past transforms into future. Thus, "time" is the flow of changing states in one another.
Time is dynamic, my own felt perception, no matter the clock shows me. How long a period of time lasts, my own impression tells me. Time is multidimensional also, every moment exists in the NOW at the same time. Evelyn Rysdyk (shamanic teacher) compares the dimensions of time with a radio where several broadcasts run in parallel, but only one frequency can be switched on and listend at the same time.
Changeable fate
Fate is the impact of my conscious acting.
The future I regard as a tree whose big trunk constitutes the most probably future. Whose branches and twigs show all possibilities I can pursue. Ever spandrel corresponds to a fork of the pursued path. Corresponds to a time point where I make a decision which leads me straight ahead or to a completely different, unknow direction.
The past I can describe as all beliefs, dogmas and brought along experiences, that on one hand guide me or on the other hand burden me. If I leave myself to what I have learned, this leads me along the big trunk of future. The easiest of all ways, without the gread effort that a transformation of life circumstances brings with it. Is this way a happy one, all the better.
Though, if I decide to change my suffering, my grief, my unhappy life, to break up dogmas, to assume new beliefs, to transform myself, then I step onto one of the side branches, under circumstances even a swayling twig maybe. I feel myself unsecure, uncomfortable, at the first moment even abandoned. But the future will get another quality. If I decide wisely and bravely, this branch will ultimately lead me to more well-being. Such possibilities of decision are many in the course of a life time. Those branches that lead me into a dead end, I exit again, mostly with a rich wealth of experience for later times.