Good topic....
I don't think i'm ever going to be as good as i would like to be, so hopefully i'll still be keen to learn new stuff for many years to come. I'm happier now with my playing than i've been before, but i know in a years time i'll be a lot happier still.
When it comes to receiving compliments, i really don't give a bugger unless its off another musician i like and respect. I don't wanna sound like an arsehole, but i've played plenty of gigs where the hardest b-line is bloody "summer of '69" and someone comes up and says "wow, you played really well" and i'm thinking "did i? did i really?" just because i know if i was in the audience and saw me playing, i wouldn't think it was by any means impressive.
And as for practicing (is that spelt right?!?) i really don't get concerned if i don't pick up a bass for a week or if i play 6hrs a day. When i first started (14yrs ago now, jesus...) i used to play for 6-8hrs a day, 7 days a week, but now the idea of playing when i'm not "feeling" it is completely counter-productive, like having sex when you don't want to.
So yeah, i'm happy with my playing for now, but i do consider myself a 2-out-of-10, and hopefully that will drive me to one day being more than that.