表达 “swim upstream 向上游” 原本指三文鱼这种幼期在河里生活的鱼类到了秋天就会逆流游到砂砾遍布的上游河床产卵的习性。要完成这段游途很不容易，而且会消耗巨大的体力，但正因如此，三文鱼才得以繁衍生息。

在日常对话中，“swim upstream” 比喻 “一个人本可以轻松简单地做某事，却选择了更加艰难的道路”。其中，“upstream” 是副词，意思是 “向河、溪上游地”，它的反义词是“downstream 向河、溪下游地”。

例句

She was very happy to retire. She felt like she had been swimming upstream for years, commuting over two hours morning and evening to do a stressful, badly paid job she did not enjoy.

她很开心能退休。她感觉这些年来一直在艰苦求生，每天上下班要花两个多小时，而且工作压力大、工资低，她一点也不喜欢。

Few musicians have the courage to swim upstream nowadays - most prefer to follow trends and make music that is popular but not innovative.

如今，很少有音乐家有勇气迎难而上。大多数都顺应潮流，制作受欢迎但缺乏创新的音乐。

Although in the beginning it felt like he was swimming upstream, he persevered and managed to convince the shareholders to drop their resistance to his plans for restructuring the company.

虽然一开始他像是在逆流而上、孤军奋战，但他坚持不懈，终于说服了股东们不再反对他重建公司构架的计划。