user, if I knew the answer I'd share.
Unfortunately, as I've learned when one pursues happiness he never attains it. The opposite is true as well, those who go out of their way to avoid happiness will also never attain it.
I believe the best option is to do two things. Number one, surrender yourself to God's will, be it fate or whatever else you want to believe, you must trust that things will work out even if not how you expected. When you trust that someday you'll be happy and with family, you're no longer going to be so frantic about finding a wife which manifests itself as desperation. This is the part about chasing happiness, let it find you instead. And when it does find you, you must act without hesitation.
We all get opportunities in our lives for various dreams of ours. The difference between a dream lived and a dream lost is the man who acted, and the one who didn't.
You must also consider the fact you may not be ready for a wife and kids, I know with all my heart that is what I truly desire, but I love my freedom as well. And ending a budding relationship this new years eve was not as painful as a younger me would have thought. Because that relationship cost me my freedom, perhaps when I have a real career things will be different, or perhaps if I find the right woman.
As for dating, the best advice I can give you is to read the Bible obviously, but if that's not your thing you could try "how to win friends and influence people", alternatively watch "Father Brown" and try to imitate father brown's mannerisms, that sort of personality is refreshing in today's world. Basically, the gist of what I'm getting at: if you want people to care about you, you must care about them.
Do you remember in school there was the "cool kids", and then there was that one kid that was so popular even the cool kids looked up to him? Never seemed to have a problem anywhere, his life seemed perfect, and everyone was nice to him? (Usually had a single, beautiful girlfriend who he married after graduation). It wasn't because he was a handsome young man, though the ladies admired him for that, it was because he was nice. Genuinely nice as well, not the "nice guy" acts betas put on so they can orbit women in the hopes of plowing them on the rebound.
I know you're not Christian, but I promise it works. If you attempt to imitate Christ, the most perfect of humans, which is to say, if you strive to be as close to God as possible, you'll be loved by everyone, and finding a wife will be as easy as finding the most beautiful woman in sight. Which is also what Nietzsche philosophy leads towards, and even the Renaissance philosopher Voltaire recognized: If God were not real, man would have to invent him.
I know, I know, I'm not trying to preach. I found it easier when I was an atheist to believe God as a concept of perfection and go from there.