Healing v. Merely Not Getting Worse

I simply continue to be amazed by the gems hidden in plain sight in all of VaYikra, including this week's parasha, Tazria.  Even in the incredibly short fifth aliyah of the portion - a parasha mostly about a spiritual skin condition which no longer exists today - there are so many precious pieces of wisdom I want and should write about.  Nevertheless, out of all of them, one passage in particular - that of healing from a skin condition - particularly jumped out of me.

Prior to this aliyah, if my memory serves, when there was a question regarding whether a certain skin condition was or was not a marker of tamei (see my other post on the uncertain and potentially inaccurate translation of this word, but commonly translated into English as "impurity), the kohen would place the individual in question under quarantine for seven days.  At the end of the seven days, the condition was either indeed found to be tamei and various steps needed to be taken or it was found to be tahara (again, my issues with the translation of this word aside, commonly translated as pure or purity), and the individual was good to go, sometimes with a quick wash of the clothing.

What we didn't see until now is an actual full and objective - yet also spiritual - healing process.  This is noted, for the first time I believe, in VaYikra 13:37, in which, after a seven-day quarantine period is undergone, "if, in [the kohen's] eyes unchanged is the netek [the blemish or mark either on the head or in the beard], and hair that is black has sprouted in it, healed is the netek, tahor [pure (?)] he is - declare him tahor shall the kohen."

What an incredible point this comes to make.  Previously, the feeling regarding one who had been inspected, quarantined, but subsequently found to be "pure" is, to me, of "dodging a bullet."  Likely during that quarantine period, and probably as soon as the mark appeared and was brought to the kohen, the person was "sweating it" - i.e., questioning their deeds to determine whether they had potentially committed any action, taken any thought, or perhaps even felt any emotion, that could have led to the tza'raat.  But once they were found tahor?  They likely forgot about it.

Here, the scenario is a little different.  Indeed, it does seem like there is a potential that merely not spreading means that the individual is still tahor (see VaYikra 33:34).  But besides either spreading (tamei) or not spreading (tahor), there is actually a third possibility - not only not spreading but actually fully healing (which, unsurprisingly, also leads to a state of tahara) through the process of sprouting new, black colored hair.  

The lesson is profound.  I think we all would like to think, especially around Yom Kippur, that over the past day, month, year, and lifetime, we have learned from our mistakes and have not made the same errors.  This is obviously commendable.  But at the same time, it is not really a state of spiritual elevation - it is, in some respects, merely not getting worse.

What if we viewed each and every "mistake" as not only an opportunity to not do it again (not get worse) but also as an opportunity to make a completely different, and better, choice the next time (heal).  And what if that latter process was accompanied by a full and objective spiritual healing process that bumped us up to that next spiritual "level"?

If a state of tza'raat could lead to this outcome, surely it is available and enviable in any other situation as well.