Christie Brinkley Explains How Showing 'Gratitude' Helps Her in Aging Gracefully

"When you find something to be grateful about in whatever situation you're in... that translates to happiness," Brinkley, 68, tells PEOPLE (the TV Show!) senior correspondent Jeremy Parsons

Christie Brinkley is aging gracefully by choosing to focus on what she is most grateful for.

While catching up with PEOPLE (the TV Show!), the fashion icon, 68, explains to senior correspondent Jeremy Parsons how her energy and sense of gratitude help keep her vital, especially in light of society's ageism in the fashion industry and beyond.

"I think ageism is one of the last frontiers," Brinkley says. "We have been constantly expanding our ideas of beauty and opening our arms to embrace all shapes and sizes and ethnicities and preferences."

"When I came into this business, it was a very narrow idea of what was beautiful," the supermodel adds. "But age is the last thing that it's pretty hard to sell."

Instead of trying run away from her age, Brinkley focuses on gratitude.

"It all has to do with your spirit and the energy that you deliver, that you bring into the room with you. That's what is going to define you," she says. "Forget anti-aging this and all of that. It's really about gratitude."

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"And when you find something to be grateful about in whatever situation you're in, and wherever you may find yourself, that translates to happiness, and happiness and good energy that you can share with other people," Brinkley continues.

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Another famous face from the world of fashion had similar sentiments on ageism last week, when Parsons caught up with Brinkley's fellow supermodel Paulina Porizkova.

"I felt ashamed to be aging, and then on the other hand you go, 'But, I'm smarter, I'm better, I'm funnier, I'm more patient!' " Porizkova, 56, told Parsons on another episode of PEOPLE (the TV Show!) last week. "Overall as a person, I'm the best I've ever been. So I'm not ready to be dismissed."

"You don't get to dismiss me because I have some wrinkles and sags and gray hair now, when I'm kind of fabulous, the most fabulous I've ever been," she added. "In fact, I'm going to just put it out there and go, you know what, this is me at my best. Deal with it!"

Parsons also asked Porizkova about her dating life, which she likened to a "puddle" — "I keep saying, look, when you're in your 50s, my dating pool is a puddle — a muddy puddle."

And when he asked Brinkley on Tuesday to comment on her own love life and whether it was similar to that of Paulina's, the mother of three says, "Well, she's lucky she has a puddle!"

"That's another thing that I just don't think about that much anymore," Brinkley adds. "If something comes along, if somebody comes along, fine, if not, fine. I'm still just enjoying every day."

Brinkley is mother to daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 36, from her marriage to Billy Joel. She is also mom to daughter Sailor Lee Brinkley-Cook, 23, from her marriage to Peter Cook, and son Jack Paris Brinkley, 26, from her marriage to Richard Taubman.