Maybe your drunk friend was focusing on an ex-girlfriend he missed when he said that.
I've always found that whatever you focus on you attract and it grows.
If you focus on money, you make more money.
if you focus on paying off debts, you have more debts.
If you focus on growing your net worth, it grows.
If you focus on shrinking your debt load, it grows.
If you focus on your kids, they grow.
I dunno, it just seems to work that way.